By Yemi Olakitan
At the UN headquarters in New York City over the weekend, more than 190 nations came to a historic agreement to safeguard the world’s seas.
This has been praised as “the biggest conservation accord in the history of the globe” by environmentalists.
The High Seas Treaty aims to halt and reverse the present extinction disaster by protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Being the first universal framework agreement since nations ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982, the treaty’s approval represents a significant step.
After 38 hours of negotiations and another nearly two decades of discussions, nations approved the treaty’s final wording on Saturday night.
Conflicts over money and fishing rights dominated the negotiations.
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The agreement came about as a result of a promise made by countries at the UN biodiversity summit in Montreal in December.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the most recent international accord on ocean preservation, was signed in 1982, 40 years ago.
The high seas, which are international waterways where all nations are permitted to fish, ship, and conduct research, were created as a result of that agreement.
Just 1.2% of these waters are, however, protected.
Climate change, overfishing, and maritime activity have all put marine life that exists outside of these protected regions under danger.
The amount of fishing allowed in these new protected zones, which were established by the treaty, as well as the paths of shipping channels and exploration operations like deep-sea mining (the removal of minerals from a seabed 200 metres or deeper), will be restricted.
Environmental organisations have expressed worry about the potential impact of mining operations on marine life, noise pollution, and animal breeding sites.
The “largest conservation pact in history of the world,” according to Greenpeace spokeswoman Arlo Hemphill, has provided a “route to build marine reserves so that governments may turn” their 30 by 30 commitment into reality.
The accord must be formally adopted at another meeting, and there will be a lot of work to be done before the treaty is put into effect.
