The delegates of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, better known by its acronym BBNJ on March 4, 2023 sealed a historical on key substantive issues for a new Treaty to protect marine life in the high seas. The agreement was reached at the meeting held at the United Nations (UN) in New York City.
- The last international agreement on ocean protection was signed 40 years ago in 1982 – the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS established an area called the high seas – international waters where all countries have a right to fish, ship and do research – but only 1.2% of these waters are protected.
Key points of treaty
- The historic treaty is crucial for enforcing the 30×30 pledge made by countries at the UN biodiversity conference in December 2022, to protect a third of the sea (and land) by 2030.
- Covering almost two-thirds of the ocean that lies outside national boundaries, the treaty will provide a legal framework for establishing vast marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect against the loss of wildlife and share out the genetic resources of the high seas.
- MPAs, established in the treaty, will put limits on how much fishing can take place, the routes of shipping lanes and exploration activities like deep sea mining – when minerals are taken from a sea bed 200m or more below the surface.
- It will establish a conference of the parties (Cop) that will meet periodically and enable member states to be held to account on issues such as governance and biodiversity.
- The High Ambition Coalition played key players in brokering the deal, building coalitions instead of sowing division and showing willingness to compromise in the final days of talks.
- One of the key stumbling blocks, which divided developing and developed nations, was how to fairly share marine genetic resources (MGR) and the eventual profits. MGR consist of the genetic material of deep-sea marine sponges, krill, corals, seaweeds and bacteria. These are attracting increasing scientific and commercial attention due to their potential use in medicines and cosmetics.
- Others sticking points included the procedure for creating marine protected areas and the model for environmental impact studies of planned activities on the high seas.
- The European Union pledged $42m in New York to facilitate the ratification of the treaty and its early implementation.
Significance
- Ocean ecosystems produce half the oxygen we breathe,
- Ocean represent 95% of the planet’s biosphere
- It soak up carbon dioxide, as the world’s largest carbon sink.
- Marine life living outside of these protected areas has been at risk from climate change, overfishing and shipping traffic.
- The treaty is also vital for achieving ocean-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
