Around 64 per cent of the world’s ocean is not managed by individual states but forms part of the high seas, far away from any coastline. Previously, human interventions were largely unregulated in many areas of these international waters, with the result that rules on marine conservation were poorly implemented. However, the United Nations High Seas Treaty (full title: the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction – BBNJ Agreement), adopted in June 2023, is intended to remedy this situation.
The Treaty enters into force on 17 January 2026 and allows states parties to create marine protected areas in international waters. It also makes provision for the granting of protected status in situations in which no consensus is reached – through a vote by the UN member states, a three-fourths majority of the parties present and voting being sufficient. It is hoped that in this manner it will be possible to protect and ensure the sustainable use of at least 30 per cent of the ocean by means of protected areas and other measures by 2030.
In order to implement the Treaty, however, many more detailed consultations are required, particularly with the regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and representatives of the regional seas conventions. If a newly planned protected area is to be located in an area of the high seas for which regional fisheries management or marine conservation agreements exist, both institutions’ approval of the new protected area is required. Substantial funding will also be needed: according to one estimate, proper planning, implementation and monitoring of marine protected areas in 30 per cent of the high seas will cost around seven billion US dollars – plus a further one billion US dollars in annual operating costs. Currently, less than one per cent of international waters are protected.
It is interesting to note that in the High Seas Treaty, the UN member states have agreed on a common definition of “marine protected area” for the first time. It states: “‘Marine protected area’ means a geographically defined marine area that is designated and managed to achieve specific long-term biological diversity conservation objectives and may allow, where appropriate, sustainable use provided it is consistent with the conservation objectives.”