The world’s first international agreement to protect the high seas was adopted Monday at the United Nations, a landmark environmental treaty aimed at protecting remote ecosystems vital to humanity. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the agreement as a “historic achievement” that would create a legal framework for expanding environmental protection measures to international waters, which comprise more than 60 percent of the world’s oceans.

After more than 15 years of debate, including four years of formal negotiations, UN member states finally agreed on the text of the agreement after a series of marathon negotiations in March. The frozen text was checked by UN lawyers and translators to see if it corresponds to the six official languages ​​of the organization.

“From coastal waters to remote open seas and deep seafloor regions, healthy oceans are integral to human health, well-being and survival,” the team of scientists wrote in the journal. Said. Lancet. Scientists are increasingly aware of the importance of oceans, which produce most of the oxygen we breathe and limit climate change by absorbing CO.₂and often contain areas of rich biodiversity at the microscopic level.

However, given that a large part of the World Ocean is outside the exclusive economic zones of individual countries and therefore under the jurisdiction of any state, ensuring the protection of the so-called “high sea” requires international cooperation.

marine reserves

As a result, they have long been overlooked in many environmental wars, with a focus on coastal areas and a few landmark species. An important tool in the agreement will be the ability to create marine protected areas in international waters.

Currently, only about one percent of the open sea is protected by any nature conservation measures. The agreement is considered critical for countries to protect 30 percent of the world’s oceans and landmasses by 2030, as agreed by world governments in a separate historic agreement reached in Montreal in December. Once approved, “the approval race will begin” and the 30 percent target “will remain within reach”, said Chris Thorne of Greenpeace.

Officially known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction agreement or BBNJ, the agreement also sets requirements for environmental impact studies for proposed activities to be carried out in international waters.

Such activities, though not listed in the text, would include everything from fishing and shipping to more controversial activities such as deep-sea mining and even geoengineering programs to combat global warming.

The agreement also sets out principles for sharing the benefits of “marine genetic resources” (MGRs) harvested through scientific research in international waters, a hurdle that nearly derailed last-minute talks in March.

Developing countries, often lacking the money to finance such expeditions, are fighting for their right to share the benefits, hoping not to be left behind in what many see as a huge future market for commercialization of MGR, particularly through pharmaceuticals. and cosmetics companies. In search of “miracle molecules”.

It is not yet clear how many countries will decide to join.

NGOs believe that the 60 ratification threshold required for the agreement to enter into force must be met, as the High Passions Coalition for BBNJ has about 50 member states, including those of the European Union, which are pushing for the agreement to be signed. and also Chile, Mexico, India and Japan. But 60 is far from the universal acceptance that ocean defenders seek (the UN has 193 member states). Source