UNITED NATIONS — Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to guard marine life within the excessive seas on Monday, with the U.N.’s chief hailing the historic settlement as giving the ocean “a fighting chance.”
Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause after which stood up in a sustained standing ovation when Singapore’s ambassador on ocean points, Rena Lee, who presided over the negotiations, banged her gavel after listening to no objections to the treaty’s approval.
The treaty to guard biodiversity in waters outdoors nationwide boundaries, referred to as the excessive seas, protecting practically half of earth’s floor, had been beneath dialogue for greater than 20 years as efforts to achieve an settlement had repeatedly stalled. But in March delegates to an intergovernmental convention established by the U.N. General Assembly in December 2017 agreed on a treaty.
The new treaty is beneath the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which got here into pressure in 1994, earlier than marine biodiversity was a well-established idea. It might be opened for signatures on Sept. 20, in the course of the annual assembly of world leaders on the General Assembly, and it’ll take impact as soon as it’s ratified by 60 nations.
The treaty will create a brand new physique to handle conservation of ocean life and set up marine protected areas within the excessive seas. It additionally establishes floor guidelines for conducting environmental affect assessments for business actions within the oceans.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres instructed delegates that the adoption of the treaty comes at a essential time, with the oceans beneath risk on many fronts.
PHOTOS: UN members undertake first-ever treaty to guard marine life within the excessive seas
Climate change is disrupting climate patterns and ocean currents, elevating sea temperatures, “and altering marine ecosystems and the species living there,” he stated, and marine biodiversity “is under attack from overfishing, over-exploitation and ocean acidification.”
“Over one-third of fish stocks are being harvested at unsustainable levels,” the U.N. chief stated. “And we are polluting our coastal waters with chemicals, plastics and human waste.”
Guterres stated the treaty is important to deal with these threats and he urged all nations to spare no efforts to make sure that it’s signed and ratified as quickly as doable, stressing that “this is critical to addressing the threats facing the ocean.”
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