The high seas treaty has reached the milestone of 60 state ratifications necessary to trigger its entry into force.
Sri Lanka, San Vicente and Las Grenadinas, Sierra Leone and Morocco deposited ratification instruments at the United Nations General Assembly on September 19.
Formally known as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond the national jurisdiction (or BBNJ Agreement), the treaty will become legally effective 120 days from January 17, 2026.
The treaty is the first legally binding international agreement that safeguards marine life in High Seas, which covers two thirds of the world’s ocean and plays a fundamental role to guarantee a healthy planet.
It provides new tools to stop the loss of biodiversity and ocean degradation by allowing the creation of protected marine areas (MPA) in international waters and guarantee the environmental impact evaluations of planned human activities.
Equity will also increase for developing countries by increasing knowledge and technology, strengthening capacity and guaranteeing equitable access and exchange of the benefits of marine genetic resources.
These provisions are vital to achieve climatic and biodiversity global objectives, including the 30 × 30 objective of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to protect 30% of the earth and the ocean of the planet by 2030.
Adopted in June 2023, after almost two decades of discussion and negotiations, the treaty opened the firm on September 20, 2023. Palau became the first country to ratify on January 22, 2024, and since then the states of each region have joined. In addition to the 60 ratifications, 142 countries have signed the European Union, indicating its intention to ratify.
According to the treaty, the first conference of the parties (COP) must meet within a year of entry into force, probably towards the end of 2026.
Governments and interested parties are laying the basis for developing high -seas AMP proposals to protect critical biodiversity sites once the treaty is operational. These include the ridges of Salas and Gómez and Nazca, Mr. Howe Rise and the Southern Sea of ​​Tasman, the Sea of ​​Sargasso and the thermal dome in the Eastern Pacific.
“This historical moment is the culmination of years of global dedication and diplomacy by governments and interested parties,” said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the Highian Alliance. “The high seas treaty is a powerful testimony of multilateralism, which shows what the world can achieve when we join for the common good for our ocean, which covers more than 70% of the planet. Today marks an important step when promises begin to become action.”
Additional ratifications are expected during the next week of the UN General Assembly in New York (as of September 22). China, India, the United States, the EU, Australia and the United Kingdom are among the nations that have signed but not ratified the treaty.