On the 4th March 2023, after almost two decades of discussion, including 5 years of negotiations, the world’s governments finalized a new United Nations Treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). This new Treaty addresses many of the governance gaps that have plagued the ocean, setting out clearer ways to conserve biodiversity in the High Seas.
Download an overview of some of the key questions and answers regarding this new High Seas Treaty.
Produced by: BirdLife International
Authors: Arne Langlet, Paul Dunshirn, Daniel Kachelriess, Duncan Currie
Authors: Arne Langlet & Paul Dunshirn
The greatest opportunity in a generation to conserve ocean life and diversity on a global scale and safeguard 2/3 of the world’s ocean is happening right now. World governments are in the final stages of negotiating a new treaty under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) – the first ever to focus on conserving and ensuring sustainable use of biodiversity of the ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), which includes the water column or “the high seas” and the seabed below. Comprising nearly half the planet, the high seas are a true global common.
The global ocean supports a multi-trillion dollar global economy and provides billions of people with food security and jobs, yet it is staggering under increasing human pressures and the effects of climate change. Just recently in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework the world’s governments supported the target to protect at least 30% of our global ocean by 2030. Currently, only 1.2% of the high seas is protected; this 30% goal can only be reached through a new High Seas Treaty.
With new and emerging threats facing the ocean every single day, we need political leadership to reach a robust treaty at the resumed 5th Intergovernmental Negotiating Conference in 2023 (20th February-3rd March), that dramatically improves conservation and management of our shared global ocean commons. This requires political will and diplomatic outreach at the highest levels, combined with flexibility at a technical level while maintaining high ambition.
To ensure that the Treaty goes well beyond the status quo and is worthy of the decades of effort to address ocean governance gaps, it must provide — at a minimum — the elements outlined in the 2023 document: What does ambition look like for the High Seas Treaty?
Download here.
Discover a few of the incredible biodiversity hotspots in the high seas that deserve priority protection and could become the first generation of high seas MPAs under a new UN High Seas Treaty.
Salas y Gomez & Nazca Ridges – English | Spanish
Costa Rica Thermal Dome – English | Spanish
Emperor Seamounts – English
HSA has developed concise briefings on key BBNJ Treaty issues for negotiators and decision-makers:
Area-based Management Tools and Marine Protected Areas
- ABMT/MPA Brief #1: Process for the establishment of MPAs under the BBNJ Treaty
- ABMTs/MPA Brief #2: How do MPAs and other ABMTs differ?
Environmental Impact Assessments
- EIA Briefing #1: When should an Environmental Impact Assessment be conducted?
- EIA Briefing #2: How should Environmental Impact Assessments be conducted?
- EIA Briefing #3: Who should review EIAs and decide whether a proposed activity may proceed?
Cross-cutting Issues
- Cross-cutting Briefing #1: Entry into Force Provisions in the BBNJ Agreement
- Cross-cutting Briefing #2: Effective Implementation and Compliance under the BBNJ Agreement through an Implementation and Compliance Committee
Download here.