Type to search

Marine Science

WORLD LEADERS CALL ON ALL NATIONS TO SWIFTLY RATIFY THE HIGH SEAS TREATY AT OUR OCEAN CONFERENCE

WORLD LEADERS CALL ON ALL NATIONS

World leaders call on all nations to swiftly ratify the High Seas Treaty at Our Ocean Conference. The European Union and the governments of Belgium, Bermuda, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Korea, Nigeria, Palau, Philippines and Seychelles called on all nations  to prioritise the ratification and implementation of the historic High Seas Treaty today, and committed to ensure it swiftly secures the 60 ratifications needed to enter into force. The call also came as Seychelles became the latest country – and the first African nation –  to officially ratify the new Treaty today, thereby picking up the pace in the Race for Ratification.

The announcement was made during a high-level event, ‘High Ambition and Partnerships for the High Seas’, held at the 9th Our Ocean Conference 2024, the first international ocean conference to take place since the new legally binding Treaty, formally known as the United Nations Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Treaty), opened for signature at the UN headquarters in New York on 20 September 2023.

An important milestone for building political momentum for ratifying and implementing the Treaty as soon as possible, the event, which also featured an Indigenous leader from Rapa Nui and ocean legend, Sylvia Earle, celebrated the progress made on the High Seas Treaty and urged all world leaders to ensure its early ratification. Leaders from Chile and Germany highlighted the importance of states working together to create proposals for High Seas marine protected areas (MPA) now so that their implementation can be fast-tracked once the Treaty enters into force.

The High Seas – the ocean beyond countries’ maritime borders – covers half the planet, is home to much of Earth’s biodiversity and plays an essential role in regulating our climate. This vast ocean area supports some of the most important, yet critically endangered ecosystems on Earth, yet a lack of governance has left it increasingly vulnerable to overexploitation. Currently, only 1.5% of the High Seas is fully protected.

Once 60 countries have ratified the High Seas Treaty, it will become the world’s first international law to mandate the conservation and management of Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) by regulating activities that may harm the High Seas and enabling the establishment of High Seas marine protected areas. To date, four countries – Palau, Chile, Belize and Seychelles – have formally ratified the Treaty, while 89 countries have signed it, thereby expressing their intent to ratify.

Transforming the High Seas Treaty agreement into action in the water is critical to safeguard the ocean from increasing human pressures and to reverse the climate and biodiversity crises, including the goal to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030. The High Seas Alliance and its members are working with governments to ensure at least 60 countries have ratified the Treaty by the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, so it can enter into force shortly afterward.

Photo: HE WavelRamkalawan, President of Seychelles ©Eva Albert

Tags