UN's High Seas Treaty - 27th March 2023

The United Nations has reached a historic agreement to protect ocean waters and marine biodiversity.

The new High Seas Treaty intends to safeguard 30 percent of international waters from human activities ranging from fishing to shipping routes and deep sea mining.

The previous international ocean accord, The Law of the Sea, was written 40 years ago. In 1982, it established international waters where all countries have fishing, shipping and research rights. Despite this achievement, the agreement only protected 1.2 percent of international waters.

38 hours of talks following 20 years of negotiations concluded with UN Ambassador for Oceans, Rena Lee, declaring "The ship has reached the shore."

Holdups over funding and fishing rights had demonstrated that while nations desired to protect sealife, conservation efforts could not come at the expense of their economies.

Wealthier countries with seabed mining machinery are searching for rare minerals and metals like copper, cobalt and gold. Another source of economic interest is marine genetic resources – biological material from sea plants and animals necessary for certain medicines and industrial processes.

Poorer nations believe these treasures should be shared equally, but with so little known about the deep ocean, others were reluctant to make firm commitments. However, in order to establish trust, the European Union donated 40 million euros to ensure the treaty's implementation.

The treaty's also established Marine Protected Areas where fishing will be strictly regulated or banned altogether to preserve 10 percent of marine species currently endangered. Although countries need to individually ratify the agreement before it's implemented, people are positive.

"What happens on the high seas will no longer be 'out of sight, out of mind,'" said Jessica Battle of World Wide Fund for Nature. "We can now look at the cumulative impacts on our ocean in a way that reflects the interconnected blue economy and the ecosystems that support it."