Charting a Course to Responsible Business on the High Seas: The Implications of the New Treaty
After decades of diplomatic debate, the United Nations has finally secured a landmark treaty safeguarding the world's high seas – the vast expanse of international waters that lie outside any one country's jurisdiction. Covering over 60% of the oceans, these waters are home to many unique ecosystems, species and resources, but have previously been subject to only fragmentary protection.
Shockingly, only 1.2% of international waters are designated as protected areas, with just 0.8% of them highly protected, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
A successful implementation of the treaty is needed if the world is going to achieve the promised “30x30 pledge” made by countries at the U.N. biodiversity conference in December, which calls on governments to protect a third of the sea (and land) by 2030.
Without a treaty, the world is unlikely to reach this target, with no legal mechanism existing before now to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) on the high seas.
Understanding the New U.N. High Seas Treaty
The agreement on the oceans comes 19 years after the U.N. first established an ad hoc group to discuss ocean protection, eight years after it adopted a resolution to develop a legally binding oceans treaty, and five years after negotiations began in earnest.
The ocean is our planet's most abundant resource, covering more than 70% of the Earth's surface and containing 95% of the biosphere. But despite being the world's largest carbon sink and a major source of biodiversity, the majority of our oceans remain vulnerable to exploitation.
Weakly enforced international maritime laws have meant that our oceans are susceptible to overfishing, pollution, acidification and emerging threats such as deep water mining.
But with the adoption of this treaty earlier this month, nearly 200 countries came together to develop new legal tools for countries to manage and protect their marine environments. With a particular focus on protecting marine life from human activity including overfishing, shipping, deep sea mining and resourcing materials for use in industries such as pharmaceuticals, the treaty is a significant breakthrough and is paving the way for even more robust global ocean conservation.
Implications for Businesses
While the treaty has been broadly welcomed by organizations and governments worldwide, it does have operational implications for businesses that operate in international waters.
Companies working in industries that have an impact on ocean health and marine life will need to review their operations, including focusing on GHG emissions reductions from shipping and fishing vessels, implementing sustainable fishing practices, and reducing plastic waste.
Under the treaty, all countries will have the authority to designate and manage marine protected areas in international waters. When this happens, companies will be required to perform an environmental impact assessment to evaluate activities that could potentially impact ocean life.
These environmental impact assessments will be required to consider and contain all relevant information, and finalized reports will be required to be publicly released through a clearing-house mechanism so they can be reviewed by all stakeholders, including the international community, NGOs, regulators, local communities, clients and customers.
The treaty is an important first step, but it will still take collective effort from governments and business around the world to ensure that the ocean is safeguarded for generations to come.
What’s Next?
While the treaty itself has been finalized, a number of outstanding issues remain.
Throughout the long negotiations, countries debated a host of thorny issues, including how to distribute potential profits gained from marine resources, where and how marine protected areas will be established, and how marine resources increasingly sought after by scientists and businesses will be managed.
This treaty calls for the establishment of a new Conference of Parties (COP) to focus on governance and compliance of international marine protected area management and environmental impact assessments. It also proposes an initial upfront fund for conservation. The new oceans COP will be designed to hold parties to account, monitor progress, and help build a policy framework to enable high seas protection.
Although the treaty has been agreed on by international actors, it must be ratified by 60 governments before it can officially go into effect. While this process varies by country, in the United States, it requires a vote of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate to be ratified, a process that can take some time.
Despite remaining challenges, the treaty is a major step forward for international collaboration and environmental protection.
Need help understanding how your operations may impact ocean health? Need to reduce your GHG emissions from shipping and fishing vessels? We can help.
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