After more than a decade of negotiations, nations have reached a historic agreement on the final text for a treaty to protect 30% of the high seas by 2030.
The high seas cover about two-thirds of the worldās oceans. These international waters are outside of any nationās jurisdiction, but all countries have a right to fish, use shipping lanes and do research.
The last international agreement about the high seas goes back to 1982, when the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted, laying out rules to govern how the oceans and marine resources are used.
But only just over 1% of the high seas is currently protected, increasingly leaving marine life at risk from overfishing, pollution, climate change and ship strike.
According to the latest assessment of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), unsustainable human activity is ādecimating marine life around the globeā. The report cites examples of species at risk of extinction, from the dugong to abalone to corals – all in all about 10% of the 17,903 marine animals and plants assessed.
Overfishing and pollution are major threats, but climate change affects at least 41% of threatened marine species, the report says.
The goal of the newly agreed treaty is to protect 30% of the high seas by the end of this decade. When delegates finally reached agreement after almost two days of non-stop negotiations at the Intergovernmental Conference on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), president Rena Lee of Singapore opened the closing plenary with the words āthe ship has reached the shoreā.
The main sticking points in reaching agreement included differing views about the fair sharing of marine genetic resources – any biological material from marine plants and animals that may be used as pharmaceuticals or food. Other issues included a requirement for environmental assessments of deep-sea activities such as mining and the exact definition of the degree of protection of marine areas.
Environmental groups and activists have long been calling for a strong global ocean treaty to give marine ecosystems a chance to recover. A Greenpeace petition garnered more than five million signatures from 157 countries and was handed over at the start of negotiations by US actress Jane Fonda.
Despite agreement on the final wording, the treaty will still have to be formally adopted at a later session and it will only enter into force once enough countries have legally passed it in their own jurisdictions.
Nevertheless, Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Ellie Hooper praised the agreement as a āhistoric day for conservation and a sign that, in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopoliticsā.
A High Ambition Coalition, which includes New Zealand, the EU, US, UK and China, were key players in brokering the deal, showing willingness to seek constructive compromise in the final days of talks, building coalitions instead of sowing division, she says.
āWe praise countries for seeking compromises, putting aside differences and delivering a treaty that will let us protect the oceans, build our resilience to climate change and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people.ā