United Nations Member States Agree to Legally-Binding International Treaty to Protect High Seas(opens in new tab) On Saturday night, the decade-and-a-half-year debate finally came to an end.
We hope that more than 100 countries will agree to the terms of a treaty aimed at protecting marine biodiversity and using marine resources sustainably, curbing human habits that destroy the world. increase.
“The ship has arrived at shore,” Singapore’s Ambassador to the United Nations and chairman of the conference, Lena Lee, announced to a standing ovation at the United Nations’ New York headquarters.
The treaty establishes new rules for marine mining, commits to economic investment in marine protection, and helps ensure that the United Nations achieves its 30×30 goals.30×30 pledge set last December(opens in new tab) We aim to conserve and protect one-third of the world’s land and sea by 2030.
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The high seas are the waters more than 200 nautical miles from a country’s coastline and therefore have no jurisdiction.Previously, there was no formal legal mechanism for setting marine reserves(opens in new tab) on the high seas. As such, the high seas are now largely unprotected, with around 99% of them subject to every imaginable exploitation and pollution in any country.
“This breakthrough, which covers nearly two-thirds of the ocean, is the culmination of nearly two decades of work and builds on the legacy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.(opens in new tab).
In addition to protecting marine habitats, the UN’s new treaty is an important step in the fight against climate change. The ocean absorbs about 25% of all carbon dioxide.(opens in new tab), and produces about half of the world’s oxygen. It also absorbs up to 90% of the heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions, keeping the Earth’s temperature much cooler than we experience it.
The main issue delaying negotiations was how the marine genetic resources should be shared.(opens in new tab) This is because different countries have different levels of resources that can be invested in such research. Such materials can be used for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food development.
draft contract(opens in new tab) It currently stipulates that no country can claim ultimate title and rights to marine genetic resources collected on the high seas. Further, any research using such material shall be “for the benefit of all mankind” and shall be “conducted only for peaceful purposes.”
The UN Member States have agreed on the text of the treaty, but it is not technically ready. A delegation to the United Nations will convene again to formally adopt it in the future, and finally take steps to protect one of the planet’s most precious assets.
