Editor”s note: The Shared Oceans Shanghai Forum 2026 was held at Shanghai Maritime University in April. Launched in 2025, the forum promotes joint efforts to build a maritime community with a shared future. Experts from various countries and international organizations discussed maritime security, connectivity and other issues at the forum. Below are excerpts from the comments of some of the participants.
Improved global maritime governance needed
The United Nations has a leading position in global maritime security governance, serving as the overarching framework for shaping and safeguarding the modern international maritime order.
Oceans play a fundamental role in global trade transport, data transmission, energy supply and food security.
In recent years, the strategic significance of oceans has heightened, causing maritime security to gradually shift from a marginal issue to a core topic of discussion within the UN.
Yet maritime security is confronted with increasingly diverse threats and challenges, ranging from traditional risks, such as piracy and illegal fishing, to emerging hazards, including plastic pollution, climate change, ecological crises and threats to submarine cables. These challenges require comprehensive solutions.
Although maritime security has become a key topic of discussion within the UN, the organization is facing several challenges in handling the various threats.
The first hurdle is the stance taken by major countries. The United States’ maritime policies, which emphasize key waterways and seek to control them, are steering UN discussions on maritime security away from international cooperation.
The second issue is the deep-seated differences between countries regarding the scope of maritime security.
There are vastly different views on which specific maritime security issues should be deliberated at the UN Security Council. Indeed, maritime security has become a battleground for rivalry and contention among various parties.
The third challenge comes from the UN itself. While many international organizations are involved in maritime security affairs within the UN system, they should have had an effective leading and coordinating mechanism.
As a result, some countries and think tanks have called for the UN to set up a dedicated institution to address maritime issues in a coordinated manner. Despite these challenges, the UN is expected to make slow but steady progress in placing greater emphasis on maritime security.
