Countries reach ‘historic’ deal to protect marine life on high seas | 24CA News
For the primary time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to guard biodiversity within the excessive seas – representing a turning level for huge stretches of the planet the place conservation has beforehand been hampered by a complicated patchwork of legal guidelines.
The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea got here into pressure in 1994, earlier than marine biodiversity was a well-established idea. The treaty settlement concluded two weeks of talks in New York.
An up to date framework to guard marine life within the areas outdoors nationwide boundary waters, often known as the excessive seas, had been in discussions for greater than 20 years, however earlier efforts to succeed in an settlement had repeatedly stalled. The unified settlement treaty, which applies to just about half the planet’s floor, was reached late Saturday.
“We only really have two major global commons _ the atmosphere and the oceans,” mentioned Georgetown marine biologist Rebecca Helm. While the oceans could draw much less consideration, “protecting this half of earth’s surface is absolutely critical to the health of our planet.”
Nichola Clark, an oceans knowledgeable on the Pew Charitable Trusts who noticed the talks in New York, known as the long-awaited treaty textual content “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect the oceans _ a major win for biodiversity.”
The treaty will create a brand new physique to handle conservation of ocean life and set up marine protected areas within the excessive seas. And Clark mentioned that’s crucial to attain the U.N. Biodiversity Conference’s latest pledge to guard 30% of the planet’s waters, in addition to its land, for conservation.
Treaty negotiations initially had been anticipated to conclude Friday, however stretched by the night time and deep into Saturday. The crafting of the treaty, which at instances appeared in jeopardy, represents “a historic and overwhelming success for international marine protection,” mentioned Steffi Lemke, Germany’s setting minister.
“For the first time, we are getting a binding agreement for the high seas, which until now have hardly been protected,” Lemke mentioned. “Comprehensive protection of endangered species and habitats is now finally possible on more than 40% of the Earth’s surface.”
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The treaty additionally establishes floor guidelines for conducting environmental influence assessments for industrial actions within the oceans.
“It means all activities planned for the high seas need to be looked at, though not all will go through a full assessment,” mentioned Jessica Battle, an oceans governance knowledgeable on the Worldwide Fund for Nature.
Several marine species _ together with dolphins, whales, sea turtles and plenty of fish _ make lengthy annual migrations, crossing nationwide borders and the excessive seas. Efforts to guard them, together with human communities that depend on fishing or tourism associated to marine life, have lengthy confirmed tough for worldwide governing our bodies.
“This treaty will help to knit together the different regional treaties to be able to address threats and concerns across species’ ranges,” Battle mentioned.
That safety additionally helps coastal biodiversity and economies, mentioned Gladys Martinez de Lemos, government director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense specializing in environmental points throughout Latin America.
“Governments have taken an important step that strengthens the legal protection of two-thirds of the ocean and with it marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal communities,” she mentioned.
The query now could be how properly the formidable treaty will likely be carried out.
Formal adoption additionally stays excellent, with quite a few conservationists and environmental teams vowing to look at intently.
The excessive seas have lengthy suffered exploitation on account of industrial fishing and mining, in addition to air pollution from chemical compounds and plastics. The new settlement is about “acknowledging that the ocean is not a limitless resource, and it requires global cooperation to use the ocean sustainably,” Rutgers University biologist Malin Pinsky mentioned.
Associated Press author Frank Jordans contributed to this report from Berlin.
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