Island States Ocean Summit: Sustainable Ocean Action for Resilient Islands

The ‘Island States Ocean Summit: Sustainable Ocean Action for Resilient Islands’ will bring together Heads of State and high-level representatives of Island States along with technical and financial partners in Tokyo, Japan, from 3 to 4 June 2026 to bolster evidence-based, climate-resilient sustainable ocean planning and management in the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (‘Ocean Decade’).

Hosted by the Nippon Foundation and co-organized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, the lead agency of the Ocean Decade, the Summit represents an important step to accelerate action on climate-resilient sustainable ocean planning and management.

The gathering will lead to new cooperation between leaders of Island States and partners to support the generation and uptake of science and knowledge, reinforce capacity, and catalyse innovation for sustainable ocean planning. It will highlight regional perspectives and provide a platform for exchange, learning, and partnership-building across disciplines that lays the groundwork for continued engagement and collaboration beyond the event itself.

The outcomes of the Summit – in particular an Action Statement capturing concrete commitments, pledges, and next steps for joint initiatives in sustainable ocean planning and management – are intended to generate momentum beyond Tokyo, shaping policy dialogues and influencing the agendas of major events in ocean governance including Conferences of the Parties to the Climate (COP31), Biodiversity (COP17), and BBNJ (COP1) processes, as well as the 2027 Ocean Decade Conference.

Further information on the Summit’s programme will be added to this page.