It took no less than 15 years of negotiations to reach the final agreement that officially establishes the first-ever international treaty focused on protecting the oceans.
The marine areas covered by the treaty represent a staggering 30% of the Earth’s surface: this gives hope about achieving the sustainability goals set for 2030.
This article will dive into the immense value of this major milestone.
What does this historic treaty represent?
This historic treaty is essential to enforce the commitment made by countries at the UN biodiversity conference to protect one-third of the world’s oceans (and land) by 2030. Without a legal framework, this goal would have remained out of reach.
The High Ambition Coalition—which includes the EU, USA, UK, and China—played a key role in brokering the deal, building collaboration over division and showing flexibility in the final days of talks.
Covering nearly two-thirds of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction, the treaty will establish a legal framework to:
- Create large Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
- Safeguard wildlife from biodiversity loss.
- Share the genetic resources of the high seas.
- Establish a conference of the parties (COP) that will meet regularly to allow member States to be held accountable for issues related to governance and biodiversity.
Environmental advocacy groups announced the finalized text – which still awaits formal ratification by the United Nations – as the start of a new chapter for Earth’s high seas.
Ocean ecosystems produce half of the oxygen we breathe, make up 95% of the planet’s biosphere, and absorb carbon dioxide, acting as the world’s largest carbon sink. Up to now, though, fragmented and poorly enforced regulations have left the high seas more vulnerable to exploitation than coastal waters.
Currently, only 1.2% of these international waters are under environmental protection, leaving the vast range of marine life — from the tiny plankton to the giant whales – exposed to threats such as pollution, overfishing, shipping, and deep-sea mining.
How long will it take to implement the treaty’s promises?
UN member states have agreed on a final version of the text but, unfortunately, it is expected to take years before the treaty is formally adopted and enters into force. The United States, in particular, has a track record of slow ratification of environmental treaties.
Once the treaty is in effect, nations will be able to propose the establishment of new marine protected areas.
Even then, enforcement will remain the greatest challenge: international waters are still something of a lawless frontier, with little to no regulation. Illegal fishing is widespread , and some vessels have even been found using slave labor.
However, the treaty represents a critical first step for high seas conservation, as the pressure on the world’s oceans continues to grow.
What will the treaty do?
A country’s legal authority typically extends up to 200 nautical miles from its coastline. Beyond that, lies the high seas, where no nation is in control.
The new agreement will not automatically establish new protected marine areas, but it does create a mechanism that enables countries to start designating them in international waters (for the first time in history).
This ability is crucial to upholding the pledges made at last year’s UN Biodiversity Summit, where delegates committed to protecting nearly a third of the Earth’s land and oceans by 2030.
The high seas treaty makes that goal more attainable, as it enables the protection of vast swaths of vulnerable marine ecosystems in international waters. It will also safeguard millions of marine species that inhabit these areas.
While the treaty’s main focus is to protect life in the Earth’s seas, it will also support efforts to fight climate change.
The document still needs to be officially finalized but, in the meantime, the European Union has pledged €40 million to help speed up the signing of the treaty by all countries.
Safeguarding the authorship of scientific knowledge
One of the major obstacles, that divided developing and developed nations, was how to fairly share marine genetic resources (MGRs) and any resulting profits.
MGRs, which include the genetic material from deep-sea sponges, krill, corals, algae and bacteria, are drawing increasing scientific and commercial interest due to their potential use in medicines and cosmetics.
Developing countries often lack the technology, access, and resources to conduct research in the high seas. After lengthy debates, wealthier nations have agreed to share some of the profits to make these benefits more equitable and accessible to all.
The three major ongoing phenomena threatening our planet
Overfishing, climate change and pollution are the three main drivers that the international treaty — signed on Saturday, March 4, 2023 — aims to tackle.
Let’s take a closer look at these devastating phenomena.
Overfishing
Faced with the collapse of large fish populations, commercial fleets have begun venturing deeper into the ocean. This intense fishing activity has triggered a chain reaction that is disrupting the ancient and delicate balance of the ocean’s biological systems.
For example, herbivorous fish help maintain marine ecosystems by eating algae, keeping coral clean and healthy so it can grow. Catching too many of these herbivores is weakening coral reefs and making them more vulnerable to destruction from extreme weather events.
In addition, the industrial fishing techniques being used are often aggressive and indiscriminate, destroying everything in their path and threatening the fate of the seabed, coral reefs, and non-target marine species.
A clear example of this is trawling, a fishing method in which boats drag heavy nets across the seabed, completely disrupting marine habitats.
These nets catch almost everything in their path: sea turtles, dolphins, seabirds, sharks, and other creatures that already face existential threats, becoming victims of bycatch.
As if that’s not enough, overfishing is further exacerbated by illegal trade. In fact, some of the most severe impacts on the oceans come from illegal fishing, which is estimated to account for up to 30% of the catch of high-value marine species.
Climate change
For a long time, the ocean has been absorbing the heaviest impacts of human-driven climate change.
As the planet’s largest carbon sink, the ocean absorbs excess heat and energy released by rising greenhouse gas emissions trapped within Earth’s system.
Sadly, the ocean has already absorbed about 90% of the excess heat caused by the surge in emissions.
As excessive heat and energy warm the world’s oceans, rising temperatures are triggering an unprecedented cascade of effects, including:
- Melting ice sheets and glaciers
- Rising sea levels
- Marine heatwaves
- Ocean acidification
These changes are having a lasting impact on marine biodiversity, as well as on the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities.
Marine heatwaves have doubled in frequency, becoming longer-lasting, more intense, and more widespread. Most of these heatwaves occurred between 2006 and 2015, causing widespread coral bleaching and significant damage to reef ecosystems.
In 2021, nearly 60% of the global ocean surface had experienced at least one marine heatwave event.
Rising temperatures significantly increase the risk of irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems. At the same time, sea levels are rising due to the melting of glaciers.
Combined with the intensification of tropical cyclones, this sea-level rise is contributing to frequent extreme weather events (such as storm surges, floods, coastal erosion, and landslides) that now occur at least once a year in many parts of the world.
To give a context about this change: just think that, before, these types of events historically occurred once a century.
Pollution
Marine pollution is a combination of chemicals and waste, most of which originates from land-based sources and is eventually discharged into the ocean.
This pollution causes severe harm to the environment, the health of marine and human life, and the global economy.
In particular, the increasing concentration of chemicals such as nitrogen and phosphorus in coastal waters promotes the growth of algal blooms that can be toxic to wildlife and hazardous to humans.
80% of the waste currently found in the world’s oceans originates from land, this trash poses a danger to both humans and animals: fish become entangled and injured by debris, and some animals mistake plastic bags for food and ingest them. Small organisms feed on tiny fragments of broken-down plastic (commonly known as microplastics) and absorb the plastic’s chemicals into their tissues.
When these small microplastic-consuming organisms are eaten by larger animals, the toxic chemicals then accumulate in their tissues. This way, microplastic pollution moves up the food chain and eventually becomes part of the food humans consume.
In recent years, we have taken for granted all that is being destroyed by human hands: the seas, biodiversity and our planet. We underestimate the value of marine waters and often fail to realize how essential it is to preserve the oceans for maintaining a decent quality of life on Earth.
Yet, nature is presenting us with an extremely steep bill that we can no longer ignore.
Oceans provide food, produce oxygen, regulate the climate, and harbor rich biodiversity. Protecting them is crucial to guarantee a decent life in the future for humans and all other living beings that inhabit the Earth.
The UN treaty to safeguard 30% of the oceans represents a historic step forward in fighting the three major ongoing phenomena that are irreversibly damaging our planet.
Hope is no longer enough, it’s time to act.
