High Seas Treaty

The United Nations High Seas Treaty is an instrument of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), agreed by an intergovernmental conference at the UN on 4 March 2023.[2] Its full formal title is Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction and is also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty.[3][4]

Not to be confused with Convention on the High Seas.

High Seas Treaty
Drafted4 March 2023
SignedNot yet
Marine protected areas as of 2020 (data from MPAtlas).[1]

It has four main objectives: [5]

  1. The establishment of marine protected areas to protect marine biodiversity.
  2. The regulation of commercialization of marine genetic resources, which can be used for the development of pharmaceuticals, in order to equitably share their benefits.
  3. The equitable access to research conducted in international waters.
  4. The setting of global standards for environmental impact assessments on commercial activities in the ocean.

Background
International waters are the areas shown in dark blue in this map, i.e. outside exclusive economic zones, which are in light blue.

About one third of the Earth's ocean is covered by exclusive economic zones, which are the particular domain of the nearest country for economic purposes. The remainder of the oceans and seabeds are mostly unregulated, without any legal framework to protect them or organize international cooperation;[6] these areas are called the high seas or international waters. Until the adoption of the High Seas Treaty, these waters had no legal framework under which they could be protected, leaving them vulnerable to unregulated exploitation such as overfishing, seabed mining, water pollution from ships, and climate change.[4]

On December 24, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 72/249 to convene an intergovernmental conference and undertake formal negotiations for a new international legally binding instrument under the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for the conservation and sustainable development of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Between 2018 and 2023, diplomats had gathered at the UN Headquarters in New York City for negotiating sessions. The fourth session was originally scheduled for 2020, but had to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 4, 2023, after two decades of discussion and five years of negotiations, the world's governments reached agreement on the key substantiative issues for a new treaty on protecting the high seas and their marine life.[7]

The treaty will provide a legal framework for establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters to protect against the loss of wildlife.[8] It also contains a procedure for managing returns from the genetic resources of the high seas.[6] It includes the establishment of a conference of the parties (COP) that will meet periodically, and enable signatory states to be held to account on the treaty's implementation.[8] Before the treaty can come into force, it needs to be formally adopted at a later UN session and then ratified by at least sixty parties to the treaty.[2]

Rules and regulations adopted through the treaty may be enforced by bodies like the International Maritime Organization.[6] The High Seas Treaty would also require environmental impact assessments for activities like deep sea mining in the open ocean.[5]

Implementation

The treaty establishes a secretariat that has authority to, after consultation with the Scientific and Technical Body and all relevant stakeholders, implement area based management tools, including the development of marine protected areas. It will operate as a general rule by consensus, but if consensus cannot be reached, then decisions can be made on a basis of a vote which requires a three-quarters majority.[9]

It is up to individual countries to decide whether and how to adopt the international treaty into their domestic law.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Marine Protection Atlas". mpatlas.org. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  2. Stallard, Esme (5 March 2023). "What is the UN High Seas Treaty and why is it needed?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  3. Draft agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (PDF), United Nations, 4 March 2023, archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2023, retrieved 6 March 2023
  4. "The High Seas Treaty, Explained". Reuters. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  5. "What to know about the new U.N. high seas treaty — and the next steps for the accord". NPR. 7 March 2023.
  6. "Why a new UN treaty to safeguard the "high seas" matters". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  7. "Treaty Negotiations". High Seas Alliance. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  8. McVeigh, Karen (5 March 2023). "High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  9. High Seas Treaty. Part III. Articles 17 to 23. https://www.un.org/bbnj/sites/www.un.org.bbnj/files/a_conf232_2023_crp2_rev1_en.pdf
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