UN Adopts First-Ever International Agreement for Protection of the High Seas

The High Seas is one step closer to its “happily ever after.”

On Monday, the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty (or BBNJ)—widely referred to as the High Seas Treaty—was formally adopted as an exciting step towards progress for marine conservation!

Sound familiar? In March 2023, after nearly two decades of fierce negotiations over greater marine protection in the high seas beyond national boundaries, this international effort to protect more than two-thirds of marine biodiversity was initially agreed upon by the United Nations .

Now, representatives of member states (aka the COP – Conference of the Parties) formally adopted terms to protect the incalculable value of the high seas.

How can frontline communities benefit from BBNJ?

From an environmental justice perspective, less economically-developed nations and indigenous communities required greater safeguards ahead of a long-term, legal commitment to work with wealthier nations.?

Countries with exponentially greater resources and funding for exploration would otherwise have had an unfair advantage and could walk away with more in a future, dissolution scenario.

Yesterday’s adoption ensures potential societal benefits, or “marine genetic resources,” will be shared. This includes discoveries related to pharmaceuticals, industrial processes, food, and more.?

What still needs to be done?

Before the High Seas is fully protected under this Treaty, key details will be ironed out over the coming two years.?

These include the creation of technical committees, additional capacity building, transfer of marine technology, allocation of funds, and cooperation with existing, industry-governing institutions.

Navigating interactions with other governing bodies (such as the International Seabed Authority) will be one of the trickiest final logistics between now and the “ratification” (aka the legally binding, final step for protection).

The UN and the ISA still have to agree on a hotly contested topic when it comes to BBNJ: deep-sea mining (DSM).

Amidst all of this, the ISA—which is also an UN-governed body—is continuing to undergo negotiations for regulations of this harmful commercial practice as a final vote is to come in July 2023. Of course, the scientific community and ocean advocates alike have raised serious concerns.

To me, these two entities—deep-sea mining and an international, legally-binding treaty to protect two-thirds of the world’s ocean—cannot exist together at the same time. If we are truly to protect the ocean through BBNJ, deep-sea mining is not and cannot be an option.

Hopefully, the creation of ABMTs (area-based management tools) and more strict EIAs (environmental impact assessments) from the BBNJ will set the bar higher around regulating any future DSM activities (or preventing them altogether), which is my hope—one I know many of you share.

– Daniela V. Fernandez