UNITED NATIONS, United States, June 16, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The world's first
international treaty to protect the high seas is scheduled to be adopted
Monday at the United Nations, a huge step for the "historic" environmental
accord after more than 15 years of discussions.

"It's a historic moment," Minna Epps, ocean team director of the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, told AFP. But "it's
appalling that it took so long."

The landmark treaty would 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.

Following four years of official negotiations, UN member states finally
agreed on the text for the treaty in March after a flurry of final, marathon
talks.

Since then, the text has been pored over by the UN's lawyers and translators
to make sure it matches in the body's six official languages.

But the journey won't be over Monday. After the UN adopts the treaty, it will
need to be ratified by at least 60 member states to go into effect.

"Humanity counts on the ocean. But can the ocean count on us?" UN Secretary-
General Antonio Guterres asked on Twitter recently, calling for more maritime
protections.

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.

- Marine reserves and impact studies -

A key tool in the treaty will be the ability to create protected marine areas
in international waters.

Currently, about one percent of the high seas are protected by any sort of
conservation measures.

That's a drop in the bucket for what's required to achieve goals to set aside
for protection 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.

Without the ratification of the high seas treaty, "we're not going to achieve
30x30. It's as simple as that," said Jessica Battle, an ocean policy expert
with the World Wildlife Fund.

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 of the treaty, 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."

After the text is adopted, observers think it won't be difficult to find 60
countries to ratify the agreement, putting it into force.

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.

"What we are hopeful for is that once the treaty enters into force, other
countries will, even if they weren't the first 60... want to become a part of
this agreement in order to help shape the future direction of it," said Liz
Karan, an ocean governance campaigner with Pew Charitable Trusts.

While the treaty is a big step forward in establishing the governance of
international waters, plenty of questions remain, to be taken up by future
BBNJ Conference of the Parties meetings.