Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as a "historic achievement" the treaty that will establish a legal framework to extend swathes of environmental protections to international waters, which make up more than 60 percent of the world's oceans.
"The ocean is the lifeblood of our planet and today you have pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance," he told delegates.
Following more than 15 years of discussions, including four years of formal negotiations, UN member states finally agreed on the text for the treaty in March after a flurry of final, marathon talks.
The text, since frozen, has been pored over by the UN's lawyers and translators to make sure it matches in the body's six official languages.
"Countries must now ratify it as quickly as possible to bring it into force so that we can protect our ocean, build our resilience to climate change and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people," said Rebecca Hubbard of the High Seas Alliance.
Scientists have increasingly come to realize the importance of oceans, which produce most of the oxygen we breathe, limit climate change by absorbing CO2, and host rich areas of biodiversity, often at the microscopic level.
But with so much of the world's oceans lying outside of individual countries' exclusive economic zones, and thus the jurisdiction of any single state, providing protection for the so-called "high seas" requires international cooperation.
The result is that they've been long ignored in many environmental fights, as the spotlight has been on coastal areas and a few emblematic species.
A key tool in the treaty will be the ability to create protected marine areas in international waters.
Currently, only about one percent of the high seas are protected by any sort of conservation measures.
The treaty is seen as crucial to countries protecting 30 percent of the world's oceans and lands by 2030, as agreed by world governments in a separate historic accord reached in Montreal in December.
With it, "We are giving ourselves the means to achieve" the 30 percent target, said the French Secretary of State for the Sea, Herve Berville.
- 'Miracle molecules' -
He called for a "sprint" towards ratification so that the accord enters into force by the next UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France in June 2025.
The treaty, officially known as the treaty on "Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction" or BBNJ, also introduces requirements to carry out environmental impact studies for proposed activities to be carried out in international waters.
Such activities, while not listed in the text, would include anything from fishing and maritime transport to more controversial pursuits, like deep-sea mining or even geo-engineering programs aimed at fighting global warming.
The treaty also establishes principles for sharing the benefits of "marine genetic resources" (MGR) collected by scientific research in international waters -- a sticking point that almost derailed last-minute negotiations in March.
Developing countries, which often don't have the money to finance such expeditions, fought for benefit-sharing rights, hoping to not get left behind by what many see as a huge future market in the commercialization of MGR, especially by pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies searching for "miracle molecules."
The treaty will open for signatures on September 20, when dozens of heads of state will be in New York for the UN General Assembly.
It remains to be seen how many countries will decide to come on board.
Russia itself from the treaty as soon as it was adopted, declaring some elements of the text "categorically unacceptable".
NGOs believe that the threshold of 60 ratifications required for it to enter into force should be reachable since the High Ambition Coalition for the BBNJ -- which pushed for the treaty -- counts some 50 or so countries as members, including those of the European Union, as well as Chile, Mexico, India and Japan.
But 60 is far from the universal adoption -- the UN has 193 member states -- that defenders of the ocean are pushing for.
"Let's carry this momentum forward. Let's continue working to protect our oceans, our planet, and all the people on it," said UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi.
What does the UN high seas treaty mean for protecting the ocean?
United Nations, United States (AFP) June 19, 2023 -
The world's first international treaty to protect the high seas, adopted by the United Nations on Monday, contains landmark tools for the conservation and management of international waters.
International waters -- outside the jurisdiction of any single state -- cover more than 60 percent of the world's oceans.
Ocean ecosystems create half the oxygen humans breathe and limit global warming by absorbing much of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities.
The UN treaty, which will open for signatures on September 20, will go into force 120 days after 60 countries have ratified it.
Here are the key points of the text approved in March.
- Ocean under threat -
The treaty begins by recognizing "the need to address, in a coherent and cooperative manner, biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems of the ocean."
These impacts include the warming of ocean waters along with their loss of oxygen, acidification, mounting plastics and other pollutants, as well as overfishing.
The text specifies that it will apply to waters beyond countries' exclusive economic zones, which extend to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from the coasts.
It also covers what is known as "the Area", shorthand for seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The Area comprises just over half of the planet's seabed.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) will have to navigate the authority of other regional and global organizations.
Chief among these are regional fisheries bodies and the International Seabed Authority, which oversees permits for deep-sea mining exploration in some areas and may soon make the controversial move of allowing companies to mine beyond current test runs.
- Marine protected areas -
Currently, almost all protected marine areas (MPAs) are within national territorial waters.
The treaty, however, allows for these reserves to be created in the open ocean.
Most decisions would be taken by a consensus of the COP, but an MPA can be voted into existence with a three-quarters majority, to prevent deadlock caused by a single country.
One crucial shortcoming: the text does not say how these conservation measures will be monitored and enforced over remote swathes of the ocean -- a task that will fall to the COP.
Some experts say satellites could be used to spot infractions.
Individual countries are already responsible for certain activities on the high seas that they have jurisdiction over, such as those of ships flying their flags.
- Sharing the bounty? -
On the high seas, countries and entities under their jurisdiction will be allowed to collect animal, plant, or microbial matter whose genetic material might prove useful, even commercially.
Scientists, for example, have discovered molecules with the potential to treat cancer or other diseases in microbes scooped up in sediment, or produced by sponges or marine mollusks.
Benefits-sharing of those resources has been a key point of contention between wealthy and poorer nations.
The treaty establishes frameworks for the transfer of marine research technologies to developing countries and a strengthening of their research capacities, as well as open access to data.
But it's left to the COP to decide exactly how any monetary benefits will eventually be shared, with options including a system based on specific commercialized products, or more generalized payment systems.
- Environmental impact studies -
The treaty requires signatories to assess the environmental impacts of planned activities under their control on the high seas before they are authorized in instances when such activities may have more than a minor or transitory effect.
It also calls for countries to assess the potential impact on international waters of activities within national jurisdictions that may cause "substantial pollution" or harm the high sea marine environment.
Ultimately, states are responsible for giving the green light to any potentially harmful activity -- a role NGOs hoped would go to the COP, to make controversial approvals more difficult.
The treaty also requires states to publish updates on an activity's environmental impacts. Approvals can be called into question if unanticipated impacts arise.
Though they are not specifically listed in the treaty, activities that could come under regulation include transport and fishing, as well as more controversial subjects such as deep-sea mining or even geo-engineering initiatives to mitigate global warming.
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