Deep Blue opens the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC-3)

2 June 2025 – UNOC3, Nice
The 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) opened in Nice with a focus on young people. At the opening ceremony of ‘La Baleine’, the Conference’s central cultural venue, the winners of the La Tribune Bleue competition – organised by Deep Blue with the support of the Society of Members of the Legion of Honour (SMLH) – delivered the first two official speeches of UNOC.

In the presence of Mr Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice, H.E. Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, Special Envoy of the President of the Republic for the UNOC, H.E. Samira Sitail, Ambassador of Morocco, and numerous UN dignitaries, Mahaba Al Qahwachi and Robin Dubreuil embodied the commitment of a generation that refuses to remain a bystander in the face of the ocean crisis.

Robin Dubreuil : a political and literary consciousness

To open this formal session,Robin Dubreuil – winner of the La Tribune Bleue award – delivered a speech of rare depth, blending lyricism, erudition and commitment. Quoting Paul Valéry, he restored the ocean to its rightful place at the heart of our collective imagination and our political responsibilities. Through a well-structured, thought-provoking address deeply rooted in contemporary realities, Robin reminded us that preserving the sea means preserving humanity’s most fragile asset: its future.

Mahaba Al Qahwachi : the poetry of a shared horizon

Following her, Mahaba Al Qahwachi, also a winner of the competition, delivered a deeply moving speech, weaving a link between personal memory and collective destiny. Carried by her poetic and vivid prose, her speech evoked the sea as a place of passage, transmission and hope. She offered the audience a moment of suspended time, at the crossroads of personal experience and universal aspiration: that of a fairer, more sustainable future, ‘where the sea and the sky meet’.

The SMLH: a key partner of La Tribune Bleue

Deep Blue’s presence at UNOC3 and the speeches given by its laureates would not have been possible without the crucial support of the Society of Members of the Legion of Honour (SMLH). Since its inception, the SMLH has supported La Tribune Bleue as a key partner, convinced that the values of merit, civic-mindedness and passing on knowledge must be embodied in new commitments to the planet and to young people.