UN adopts first treaty governing the high seas

The United Nation adopted its first legally binding treaty to protect marine life in international waters on Monday.

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty, commonly referred to as the High Seas Treaty, was approved unanimously, with delegates from all 193 member nations in favor. The Associated Press reported that delegates erupted in applause when the gavel came down after hearing no objections.

The treaty would need to be ratified by 60 countries for it to take effect. In the United States, two thirds of the Senate would need to approve a resolution to ratify the treaty. The treaty will be open for signatures during the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly on Sept. 20, and will remain open for two years.

Discussions of a treaty protecting biodiversity in international waters had been in the works for more than two decades, but several obstacles prevented progress on an agreement. 

U.N. Secretary General António Gueterres hailed the adoption of the agreement and called on member states to ratify the treaty “without delay.”

“You have pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance. By acting to counter threats to our planet that go beyond national boundaries, you are demonstrating that global threats deserve global action,” Gueterres said, adding, “and that countries can come together, in unity, for the common good.”

The treaty would be the first protecting marine life outside of national boundaries. It would strengthen the legal framework for the “conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in over two-thirds of the ocean.”

It would create a body to oversee the conservation of ocean life and to establish “marine protected areas” in the high seas. The treaty also outlines specific rules for conducting research and commercial activities in the oceans, measured by their environmental impact.

The treaty text states that its general objective “is to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, for the present and in the long term, through effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the Convention and further international cooperation and coordination.”

“This is critical to addressing the threats facing the ocean, and to the success of ocean-related goals and targets — including the 2030 Agenda and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” Guetteres said.