Oceans – On Saturday evening, an agreement was struck between almost 200 countries to sign a legally-binding treaty to protect marine life.
The treaty calls for the countries to manage and protect marine life in international waters that cover more than half of the earth’s surface.
The agreement comes after two weeks of negotiations at the United Nations headquarters in midtown Manhattan, New York.
While it endured a final session that lasted more than 36 hours, the treaty took two decades to develop.
The news
The ocean treaty provides legal tools to countries to establish (and manage) marine protected areas and sanctuaries to safeguard the ocean’s biodiversity.
The treaty covers environmental assessments that evaluate potential damage by commercial activities like deep-sea mining.
Laura Meller, the Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace Nordic, released a statement to laud the agreement.
“This is a historic day for conservation and a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopolitics,” said Meller.
A wider habitat
Many consider the oceans the world’s last true wilderness as it contains uncharted territories that have yet to be explored.
The vast stretch of water covers more than 60% of the world’s oceans by surface area, including everything 200 nautical miles beyond countries’ territorial waters.
The oceans are home to a plethora of unique species and ecosystems.
They also support global fisheries that billions rely on for food and income.
Additionally, the ocean is an essential buffer against climate crises, absorbing more than 90% of the excess heat in the globe for the last couple of decades.
Vulnerability
Despite how important the oceans are to humans and animals, they are also very vulnerable.
The climate crisis is causing ocean temperatures to rise, and as a result, acidic waters are increasing, thus threatening marine life.
Human activity poses another danger to the oceans and marine life.
Industrial fishing has played a hand in harming the environment as overfishing depletes resources.
Additionally, bycatching can lead to the capture of animals like dolphins and sea turtles.
Shipping and the developing deep-sea mining industry have also played a role in the weakening ocean.
Furthermore, the race to harness the ocean’s genetic resources has impacted ocean life, taking material from marine plants and animals to give pharmaceutical industries more resources.
International waters protection
Liz Karan, Pew Charitable Trusts’ oceans projector director, underscored the lack of measures for marine life, saying:
“Currently, there are no comprehensive regulations for the protections of marine life in this area.”
Although there are rules in place, they are fragmented and weakly enforced, often overlooked.
As a result, high seas activities are typically unregulated, and with insufficient monitoring, they are vulnerable to exploitation.
1.2% of international waters are recognized and protected, but only 0.8% are “highly protected.”
“There are huge unmanaged gaps of habitat between the puzzle pieces,” said Douglas McCauley, an oceans science professor at the University of California Santa Barbara.
“It is truly bad out there.”
The newly agreed ocean treaty is meant to fill the gaps and provide a legal force to create and manage marine protected areas across international waters.
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According to experts, the treaty will be vital for meeting global diversity pledges countries made in December during COP15, the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal.
Monica Medina, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, said the treaty will help them reach the goal of conserving or protecting over 30% of the global ocean by 2030.
The 20-year process
The agreement of the oceans treaty started two decades ago when the UN created an ad hoc group to discuss ocean protection in 2004.
It was only in 2015 that the organization took up a resolution to develop a binding ocean treaty.
Years of preparatory talks then led to negotiations in 2018.
“It has been a long arc from the first time the question was raised, to where we are now,” said Liz Karan.
There were expectations that 2022 would be the breakthrough, but discussions in August failed.
However, the latest discussions were touted as a final chance for the world’s oceans.
During the negotiations, some expressed worry that the agreement wouldn’t be reached as conflicts threatened to throw off the talks.
“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride,” said Karan.
Some of the major sticking points to reaching the agreement include:
- Nailing down processes for creating protected marine areas
- Ensuring costs and benefits are shared equitably
The latter point is especially crucial as developing countries might lack the technology or capacity to conduct scientific explorations of the seas.
However, the grueling final session concluded with an agreement on Saturday night.
“We praise countries for seeking compromises, putting aside differences and delivering a treaty that will let us protect the oceans, build our resilience to climate change, and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people,” said Laura Meller.
Expected results
With the agreement, countries must formally adopt and ratify the treaty.
By doing so, they can start implementing marine sanctuaries and try to reach the 30% global ocean protection target by 2030.
“We have half a decade left, and we can’t be complacent,” said Meller.
Douglas McCauley chimed in, saying:
“If we want the high seas to be healthy for the next century, we have to modernize this system – now. And this is our one, and potentially only, chance to do that. And time is urgent.”
“Climate change is about to rain down hellfire on our ocean.”
Image source: Bloomberg
