Next Phase for High Seas Treaty: Advancing Smooth Implementation

In the nearly two years since the United Nations adopted a historic agreement to protect the high seas, U.N. member countries have been hard at work paving the way to implement the treaty under their national processes.

The Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction – also known as the BBNJ Agreement – covers two-thirds of the world’s ocean, where no single country has authority. These waters support a rich array of marine life, including sea turtles, whales, dolphins, sharks and manta rays, many of which migrate thousands of miles to feed, breed and gather.

The U.N.’s adoption of the treaty in June 2023 sparked global enthusiasm for ocean conservation and added momentum to the emerging goal – set by the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030.

Despite hosting remarkable ecosystems, including deep-water corals and as-yet-undiscovered species, only 1% of the high seas is currently protected. Meanwhile, destructive fishing practices, increased ocean temperatures, ocean acidification and marine pollution threaten high seas biodiversity.

For example, oceanic shark and ray populations have declined by up to 70% over the past 50 years because of overfishing, and nearly 50% of the world’s coral reefs are already degraded – with 14% lost in just the past decade. These are difficult risks to manage because the high seas are governed by a fragmented system of international, regional and sectoral regulations.

To help address these threats, the BBNJ Agreement establishes a framework for creating high seas marine protected areas (MPAs) and sets guidelines for assessing the environmental effects of human activities in these places – both tools that could help tackle these threats to marine biodiversity. However, this agreement will enter into force at only once 60 countries formally ratify it.

To date, 21 governments have ratified. As these efforts continue to accelerate the conservation benefits of the agreement, it is equally important to begin fleshing out operational details of the governance bodies and committees that the treaty created to carry out its work. To that end, the U.N. established a Preparatory Commission (PrepCom) to lay the groundwork for the agreement’s implementation and for the first Conference of Parties (CoP) meeting. The first of three PrepCom sessions is set for 14-25 April and is crucial to establishing an effective working dynamic. The discussions will focus on foundational issues, including:

• Rules, guidelines and procedures for the CoP and other BBNJ bodies, including operations, decision-making and interactions among those bodies.
• Details related to the BBNJ Secretariat’s operations, including where it will be located.
• How the clearinghouse mechanism – a centralized platform to facilitate the sharing of information, transparency and international cooperation – will function.
• Financial rules governing the funding for the BBNJ Agreement.

The PrepCom will tackle numerous technical issues. This and other work is necessary to ensure that the treaty fulfills its long-term promise. This is a new phase for BBNJ, and ideally delegations will walk away from this first meeting with a clearer sense of where they agree on a path forward, where they have different views, and what additional research is needed to help identify a solution.

And while it is important to make progress on all issues under consideration, the scientific and technical body – a subsidiary body established by the agreement and charged with providing scientific advice and assessments – will play a particularly important role in implementing high seas MPAs. This PrepCom meeting is an important opportunity for discussions on that body to progress.

U.N. adoption of the treaty is a remarkable achievement that came after nearly two decades of work. Now, countries have an opportunity to fulfill the promise of this agreement to better protect the ocean and show the power of multilateralism.

To do so, world leaders must act with high ambition and urgency every step of the way. The PrepCom meeting is their next chance to ensure the smooth implementation of the BBNJ treaty as soon as possible and lock in benefits for marine life and people worldwide for generations to come.

Nichola Clark is a senior officer and Ingrid Banshchikova is a senior associate with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ ocean governance project.