Historic agreement to protect the high seas, reached by the UN countries

The UN countries reached an agreement to establish a treaty that protects the high seas, an instrument that has been negotiated for years and that experts and environmental organizations consider vital to save the oceans.

The consensus came after a marathon round of negotiations that started on February 20 and was scheduled to close for this Friday, but which continued throughout the night and on Saturday, with more than 35 hours of continuous discussions, to iron out the latest differences.

Among other things, the text lays the foundations for the establishment of marine protected areas, which should make it easier to fulfill the international promise to safeguard at least 30% of the oceans by the year 2030.

“The ship has come ashore”

“The ship has reached the coast,” announced the president of the negotiations, an exhausted Rena Lee, to confirm that there was finally a consensus on the document, news received with a standing ovation by the delegations gathered at the United Nations headquarters. .

The formal adoption of the treaty, however, will have to wait a little longer, until a group of technicians guarantees the uniformity of the terms used in it and it is translated into the six official languages ​​of the UN, after which it must be ratified by the different countries before its entry into force.

Some, including Russia, however, left the door open to reopen some issue because they had not been able to review some points in detail due to the harsh conditions of the final hours of the negotiation and the fact that some of their experts had already left NY.

Environmental organizations, very present throughout the process, have pressured governments to close a solid and ambitious treaty, which they see as a unique opportunity to protect the oceans.

Mining at the bottom of the seas, one of the new threats

Pollution, climate change and new technologies that open the door to mining at the bottom of the seas and more intensive fishing are, according to experts, the main threats to the high seas, which accounts for two thirds of the total oceans.

Despite its enormous importance for the planet, until now these waters located more than 200 nautical miles from the coast and which are shared by all countries have been managed under a series of international agreements and organizations without clear jurisdiction, without much coordination and with inadequate standards for their protection.

The new treaty will be established within the framework of the existing United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and seeks to “ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”

North-South divide over marine genetic resources

Among the issues that could only be resolved at the last minute was the North and South divide on how to share the benefits of the sea, especially everything related to marine genetic resources -species that may provide patentable genes in the future, for example for use in medicine.

On this issue, the interests of some rich countries, which are the ones with the greatest capacity to take advantage of these advances, and those of the developing world, which fears being excluded, clashed.

Brussels welcomes the agreement

The 27 countries of the European Union will undoubtedly quickly ratify this agreement, which has been welcomed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

“The ocean is food, energy, life. It has given so much to humanity, it is time to give it back. I welcome the agreement on the high seas; a treaty that will protect the ocean beyond national jurisdictions,” wrote Ursula von der Leyen, On twitter.

EU aid to developing countries

The European Union is also committed to assisting developing countries in their implementation.

With this objective, Brussels has committed to contribute 40 million euros as part of the Global Ocean Program and has invited other members of the High Ambition Coalition, 52 countries from around the world that cooperate on the matter, to contribute Also within your capacity.

The EU announced on March 2, within the framework of the Our Ocean Conference organized by the UN in Panama, investments of more than 800 million euros for the conservation of the seas that will finance, among other initiatives, actions for the protection of the marine diversity in Africa or to share with Latin America and the Caribbean the data collected by the community Copernicus satellite system.

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