"The Ship has reached the shore ..."

HISTORIC UN 'HIGH SEAS' TREATY AGREED

At 9.30pm on Saturday 4th March (GMT 2.30am, Sunday 5th), after nearly 20 years of negotiations and five rounds of UN-led negotiations, more than 100 UN country members finally agreed to the first international treaty to protect the 'high seas' from marine biodiversity loss.

Comprising more than 60% of the world's oceans and nearly half of the planet's surface, the 'high seas' have drawn far less attention than coastal waters but currently only around 1% of them are protected and they've been suffering from exploitation due to commercial fishing and mining, as well as pollution from chemicals and plastics. They begin at the border of countries' exclusive economic zones which extend up to 370km (200 nautical miles) from coastlines.

Announcing the good news, to loud and lengthy applause, at the UN headquarters in New York, Chairwoman Rena Lee likened the legally binding pact to a ship finally coming in, saying "The Ship has reached the shore." The new 'High Seas Treaty' places 30% of the seas into protected areas by 2030, aiming to safeguard and recuperate marine life and is seen as a crucial component in global efforts to bring 30% of the world's lands as well as seas, under protection by the end of the decade. (The '30 by 30' pledge agreed at COP 15, the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal in December 2022.)

Signatory countries will also be obliged to conduct environmental impact assessments of proposed activities on the high seas.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the delegates and said the agreement, "is crucial for addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution", whilst Laura Meller, a Greenpeace oceans campaigner who also attended the talks said, "Countries must formally adopt the treaty and ratify it as quickly as possible to bring it into force, and then deliver the fully protected ocean sanctuaries our planet needs."