NEW YORK: The United Nations has adopted the first-ever international treaty to govern the high seas and protect remote ecosystems vital to humanity, after more than 15 years of extensive negotiations.
The Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction Monday adopted the draft agreement of the historic maritime biodiversity treaty.
“I hope you know that you were all applauding and cheering for yourselves,” commented Rena Lee, a Singaporean diplomat, who was President of the Intergovernmental Conference.
The text, as an international legally binding instrument under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, aims to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
A treaty to protect biodiversity in waters outside national boundaries, known as the high seas, covering nearly half of earth’s surface, had been under discussion for more than 20 years.
The efforts repeatedly stalled until March when delegates to an intergovernmental conference established by the UN General Assembly agreed on a treaty which was then subject to legal scrutiny and translated into the UN’s six official languages.
The new treaty will be opened for signatures on Sept. 20, during the annual meeting of world leaders at the General Assembly, and it will take effect once it is ratified by 60 countries.
Speaking in explanation of position after the action, two Member States took the floor, with Russia distancing from consensus due to the text’s risk of politicization, among other issues. Venezuela’s delegate pointed out that his country is not a party to the Law of the Sea Convention and not bound by its norms.
Prior to the adoption, UN General Assembly President, Csaba Korosi of Hungary, noted that the member states recognized a common problem, came together, overcame differences and advanced transformative, sustainable solutions designed to protect the environment.
“Ultimately, you succeeded in crafting an agreement that testifies to the power of multilateralism,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stressing that the ocean is the lifeblood of the planet, said: “Today, you have pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance.”
There are threats on multiple fronts, with climate change heating the planet, disrupting weather patterns and ocean currents, as well as altering marine ecosystems and the species living there.
Sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic have recently risen so high “that they are literally off the charts”, he pointed out.
Pakistan hails breakthrough
In his remarks, Ambassador Munir Akram, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said the treaty heralds a new era of international cooperation through a legally binding instrument to protect the biodiversity in the high seas and to better balance the conservation and sustainable use of marine genetic resources.
He applauded the perseverance and tremendous efforts put in by all delegations, especially to bridge the gap between the developed and the developing countries through strenuous negotiations.
It will be a significant addition to the existing international ocean governance framework and will allow humanity to continue to enjoy the social, economic and environmental benefits that the high seas have to offer, he added
Ambassador Akram underscored that the scope and legal effects of the freedom of maritime scientific research specified in Article 7 of the agreement should be interpreted in light of the relevant provisions of the Law of the Sea Convention.
He stressed such research cannot provide the legal basis for any claim to ownership or proprietary rights in any part of the marine environment or its resources.
While many Member States called for the agreement be rapidly ratified and implemented, some detailed specific steps that first must be taken.
