UN HIGH SEAS TREATY

About UN High Seas Treaty:

The UN High Seas Treaty vis the first-ever treaty to protect the world's oceans outside national boundaries. It is also referred to as the 'Paris Agreement for the Ocean'. The treaty is legally binding and aims to protect marine life in international waters. It's goal is to establish protected areas covering 30% of the seas by 2030, a pledge made by countries at the UN biodiversity conference in 2022.

The treaty provides a legal framework for creating marine protected areas (MPAs) to safeguard wildlife and share genetic resources of the high seas, It covers environmental assessments to evaluate potential damage from commercial activities, like deep-sea mining. The treaty establishes a conference of the parties (CoP) that meets periodically to hold member states accountable for governance and biodiversity issues.

It is in this context that an International Conference on Transboundary Biodiversity has been held in New York. The reason why the treaty negotiations have dragged on for so many years is because the countries have been constantly at odds over three aspects: allocation of funds, fishing industry and mineral resources. Countries continued to discuss where the funds for protecting these areas would come from, what the developed countries' contribution would be, and what the limits would be on setting up fishing and mineral mines in the area. After heated negotiations, a final decision has now been reached.

Signatories of the treaty pledge to share ocean resources.

The UN High Seas Treaty is built on the legacy of the UN Conversation on the Law of the sea (UNCLOS), the last international agreement on ocean protection signed in 1982. UNCLOS established an area called the high seas.

What are High Seas ?

High seas refer to the areas of the oceans that are beyond the national jurisdiction bof any country .

Here are some key points:

The high seas begin at the border of countries' exclusive economic zones beyond 370 km (200 nautical miles) from a country's coastline and extend up to the outer limits of the continental shelf.

All countries have the right to use the high seas for shipping, fishing, and scientific research. The high seas comprise more than 60% of the world's oceans by surface area.

Due to a lack of regulation, activities on the high seas are often vulnerable to exploitation, making it important to protect them through international treaties and agreements.

A number of important results have been achieved in this agreement. They are...

1. Conserving 30% of the world's oceans by 2030 – the so-called 30-30 decision.
2. Common sharing of marine genetic resources in transboundary waters. This decision will certainly help to uphold the social justice of the marine environment. Landlocked and developing countries will benefit from this resource allocation.
3. An Environmental Impact Assessment must be done before any new activity in the transboundary waters.
4. New regulations will be made for fishing and mining in territorial waters.
5. All organizations that already protect international waters will continue with the same powers.
6. Developed countries will provide fresh funding to implement the agreement.
7. To the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Use of UN high seas treaty

All nations of the world have an eye on the transboundary waters. In fact, it is one of the last remaining areas on Earth that has not been heavily exploited by mankind. Countries around the world have developed various commercial, corporate, geological and defense projects based on this region.

The countries have already left with the ship saying, "I will leave this place unattended for so long". Therefore, it is important that the agreement has come out in this situation. Through this, at least a minimum control can be established. Right now, countries such as USA, Canada, Russia, China, Norway, Sweden, Denmark etc. are carrying out many activities in the territorial waters. .This agreement will also help to monitor them and prevent encroachment.