Sebastian Unger

Ocean Commissioner of the German Federal Government and Director for Marine Environmental Protection at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV)


Sebastian Unger is the Ocean Commissioner of the German Federal Government and Director for Marine Environmental Protection at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV). Previously, from 2011-2022, he led the research group on ocean governance at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam. In this role he initiated numerous international research initiatives, lectured on ocean governance, and advised governments and international organisations on key marine policy processes for achieving ocean health.

In 2007 he was appointed to be Deputy Secretary to the OSPAR Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North‐East Atlantic. In that role he supported negotiations of new international legislation for marine conservation and environmental impacts of human activities, including the development of the world’s first network of marine protected areas on the “High Seas”.

From 2004-2007 Sebastian Unger served at the German Federal Foreign Office, where he coordinated the Ministry’s work on international maritime affairs. He has an academic background in biology with political science.