April 11, 2023
Featured image: Sargassum floating in the Sargasso Sea, located in the Northern Atlantic Subtropical Gyre, high seas. The Sargasso Sea is one of Mission Blue’s Hope Spots located in the high seas © Philippe Rouja
(UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK) –
After two decades of ongoing discussion, United Nations delegates from 193 nations reached a historic agreement on March 4th, 2023 to protect marine biodiversity and address climate change in international waters, also known as the “high seas”. The high seas refers to approximately 2/3rds of the world’s oceans that are not within any country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), leaving such waters vulnerable to damaging fishing and other extractive practices.
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, says, “This action is a victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean health, now and for generations to come.”
David Freestone, Executive Secretary of the Sargasso Sea Commission and Hope Spot Champion of the
Sargasso Sea Hope Spot says, “We are delighted to see at last the finalization of the new UN High Seas Treaty. The development and negotiation of this have taken almost two decades. The governance and conservation of biodiversity in ABNJ have long been an “unfinished agenda” of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention and the new Treaty now addresses this important issue – providing for the first time an international mechanism for the designation of marine protected areas within the high seas.” Freestone served on the IUCN delegation throughout this process.
“The High Seas provide a variety of ecosystem services that benefit humankind and are fundamental to human survival and well-being”, says Minna Epps, Head, IUCN Ocean who led the IUCN delegation in NY. “It’s not separate from anywhere else on Earth. This is one planet, and the one ocean is an integral part of it. Once adopted and ratified, the new treaty will enable a more holistic and equitable management of human activities affecting ocean life beyond national boundaries and safeguard global ocean heath, climate resilience and socio-economic wellbeing for millions of people.”
The work has just begun. The actions that follow this treaty are just as important as the agreement itself – the procedure for creating high seas marine protected areas and a model for environmental impact studies must be created and enforced through continued multinational collaboration.