Fresh momentum to High Seas Treaty

The UN Ocean Conference which concluded in Nice, France, last week has given a boost to efforts in ocean conservation by getting more countries to ratify an important treaty to protect marine life and adopting the Nice Action Plan to further the cause of safe and healthy oceans. The conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, was the third in a series of global efforts to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 which is about Life Below Water and aims to conserve and sustainably manage our oceans. Over 175 countries attended it and about 60 of them were represented by heads of state. Stakeholders including NGOs, academics, scientists, and activists attended the conference and the outcomes have been widely welcomed. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underlined the message of the conference by calling upon nations to move from “plunder to protection” of the seas.

The Action Plan includes a political declaration and more than 800 voluntary commitments by governments, UN agencies, the civil society, and others to conserve the oceans and protect marine life. Other important outcomes include €8.7 billion in investments for accelerating ocean conservation in the next five years, an increase in global Marine Protected Area (MPA) coverage from 8 per cent to more than 10 per cent and a boost to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement which aims to protect marine biodiversity beyond national waters. The High Seas Treaty, as it is called, seeks to address the growing threats to marine life in these vast areas, including those from climate change, pollution, and overfishing. As many as 50 countries have ratified it and it will enter into force after 60 countries do so. India’s ratification is expected later this year after endorsement by parliament.

The exploration and use of resources outside the national economic zones has always been a contentious issue. The treaty and other decisions taken at the conference will hopefully lead to cooperation and coordination among nations in the matter. The conference may have helped to promote global efforts to achieve the SDG 14’s goal of 30 per cent ocean protection by 2030. It has sought to strengthen global marine governance amid the climate and biodiversity crises and to encourage science-driven ocean literacy, deep-sea mining moratorium advocacy, and nature-based solutions. One setback was the non-participation of the US which only sent observers to the conference. President Donald Trump has gone ahead with deep mining under the US laws, going against international regulation efforts. The efforts of the rest of the world to conserve the oceans as global commons will hopefully bear fruit.