- Unique, fragile areas -
The text to be adopted at the United Nations on Monday provides for the creation of marine protected areas in international waters, in areas that are unique, particularly fragile or important for endangered species.
Biodiversity is a priority, "but it's not the only important criteria," Minna Epps of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) tells AFP, referring also to "ecological functions" in areas conducive to plankton blooms.
One example is the "thermal dome" off the coast of Costa Rica. Each year, the upwelling of nutrient-rich deep-sea water causes an algae bloom, the first link in a food chain that provides a highly hospitable habitat for blue whales.
"You don't want to just protect one ecosystem," adds Liz Karan of the Pew Charitable Trusts, underlining the importance of a "network" that would allow corridors for migratory species.
The network ideally would link high seas marine protected areas with existing protected areas in national waters near coasts.
Based on such criteria, scientists and NGOs have already identified a dozen potential marine areas.
In addition to the "thermal dome," they include the Emperor seamounts that extend across the Hawaiian archipelago in the Pacific, the so-called "lost city" in the middle of the Atlantic with its many hydrothermal vents, and the Sargasso Sea.
Also noteworthy are the Nazca and Salas y Gomez ridges, off the coast of Chile, which could become one of the first sanctuaries established after the treaty.
- When will they be created? -
Not for several years.
"Four years would be very optimistic. Sadly, I think maybe five or six is more realistic," predicts Glen Wright, a researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), while Epps reckons we won't see any before 2027.
Once adopted, the treaty must be signed and ratified by 60 countries to come into force and enable the Conference of the Parties (COP) to meet.
The COP will be empowered to create a sanctuary on the proposal of one or more states, whereas today it is mainly NGOs that put forward such proposals.
Only Chile has mentioned a formal project at Nazca and Salas y Gomez.
- Objective 30x30 -
Although it will take several years for sanctuaries to be established, the treaty is considered crucial to achieving the goal set by all governments of protecting 30 percent of the planet's land and oceans by 2030.
Without the treaty, "we're not going to achieve 30x30. It's as simple as that," says Jessica Battle of conservation group WWF.
Given the tight timetable, Wright cautions, the contribution of the treaty to 30x30 "may be limited."
- What kind of protection? -
On land and at sea, the degree of protection afforded to reserves of all kinds varies.
On the high seas, "I find it hard to imagine that there will be any large, strictly protected areas," says Wright, who thinks it more viable to create small areas with maximum restrictions (such as a total ban on activities) and others with limited measures -- perhaps seasonally enforced to protect breeding or migrating species.
- Monitoring and enforcement? -
With the oceans' vastness a major issue for enforcement, experts often talk about how technology, in particular satellites, will be used to monitor protected areas.
"The beauty of the high seas is it takes a lot of energy to get out there," says Battle.
"You have to have a boat and the boats will have... a transmitter and so you can track these vessels."
A mechanism to spot unauthorized activity could be set up, similar to one used to monitor global fishing.
The question then becomes how to finance this surveillance and how to force offenders to respect the rules.
Under the treaty, states are responsible for the activities of vessels flying their flag on the high seas. However, the state in question must be a signatory to the treaty.
The text also provides for a "compliance" mechanism, which remains largely undefined.
"If there is proof that a state is flagging a vessel that is behaving contravening the regulations in (a Marine Protected Area), that can be brought to the COP," Battle explains.
"States don't like that. They don't want to be criticized at the international level."
What does the UN high seas treaty mean for protecting the ocean?
United Nations, United States (AFP) June 19, 2023 -
The world's first international treaty to protect the high seas, adopted by the United Nations on Monday, contains landmark tools for the conservation and management of international waters.
International waters -- outside the jurisdiction of any single state -- cover more than 60 percent of the world's oceans.
Ocean ecosystems create half the oxygen humans breathe and limit global warming by absorbing much of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities.
The UN treaty, which will open for signatures on September 20, will go into force 120 days after 60 countries have ratified it.
Here are the key points of the text approved in March.
- Ocean under threat -
The treaty begins by recognizing "the need to address, in a coherent and cooperative manner, biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems of the ocean."
These impacts include the warming of ocean waters along with their loss of oxygen, acidification, mounting plastics and other pollutants, as well as overfishing.
The text specifies that it will apply to waters beyond countries' exclusive economic zones, which extend to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from the coasts.
It also covers what is known as "the Area", shorthand for seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. The Area comprises just over half of the planet's seabed.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) will have to navigate the authority of other regional and global organizations.
Chief among these are regional fisheries bodies and the International Seabed Authority, which oversees permits for deep-sea mining exploration in some areas and may soon make the controversial move of allowing companies to mine beyond current test runs.
- Marine protected areas -
Currently, almost all protected marine areas (MPAs) are within national territorial waters.
The treaty, however, allows for these reserves to be created in the open ocean.
Most decisions would be taken by a consensus of the COP, but an MPA can be voted into existence with a three-quarters majority, to prevent deadlock caused by a single country.
One crucial shortcoming: the text does not say how these conservation measures will be monitored and enforced over remote swathes of the ocean -- a task that will fall to the COP.
Some experts say satellites could be used to spot infractions.
Individual countries are already responsible for certain activities on the high seas that they have jurisdiction over, such as those of ships flying their flags.
- Sharing the bounty? -
On the high seas, countries and entities under their jurisdiction will be allowed to collect animal, plant, or microbial matter whose genetic material might prove useful, even commercially.
Scientists, for example, have discovered molecules with the potential to treat cancer or other diseases in microbes scooped up in sediment, or produced by sponges or marine mollusks.
Benefits-sharing of those resources has been a key point of contention between wealthy and poorer nations.
The treaty establishes frameworks for the transfer of marine research technologies to developing countries and a strengthening of their research capacities, as well as open access to data.
But it's left to the COP to decide exactly how any monetary benefits will eventually be shared, with options including a system based on specific commercialized products, or more generalized payment systems.
- Environmental impact studies -
The treaty requires signatories to assess the environmental impacts of planned activities under their control on the high seas before they are authorized in instances when such activities may have more than a minor or transitory effect.
It also calls for countries to assess the potential impact on international waters of activities within national jurisdictions that may cause "substantial pollution" or harm the high sea marine environment.
Ultimately, states are responsible for giving the green light to any potentially harmful activity -- a role NGOs hoped would go to the COP, to make controversial approvals more difficult.
The treaty also requires states to publish updates on an activity's environmental impacts. Approvals can be called into question if unanticipated impacts arise.
Though they are not specifically listed in the treaty, activities that could come under regulation include transport and fishing, as well as more controversial subjects such as deep-sea mining or even geo-engineering initiatives to mitigate global warming.
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