Once the High Seas Treaty enters into force, experts say it will boost the health of oceans and their role in tackling climate change
As governments head to a major UN ocean conference next week, the race is on to get enough countries to ratify an international treaty seen as crucial to meeting a goal of protecting 30% of the world’s seas by 2030 so that it can take effect within two years of its adoption in 2023.
So far, of the 60 states needed for that to happen, only 29 have ratified the agreement, known as the High Seas Treaty but formally titled Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). The treaty aims to create rules for establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters.
Establishing those MPAs is seen as key to conserving 30% of the world’s land and sea ecosystems by the end of this decade, as countries pledged to do at talks in Montreal in 2022. Experts say MPAs can also help oceans recover their ability to store planet-heating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the atmosphere, which has been weakening in the past two decades.
According to the UN, the world’s ocean absorbs 30% of all CO2 emissions and captures 90% of the excess heat generated by these emissions, serving as a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change. However, rising greenhouse gas emissions have affected the health of the ocean by warming and acidifying seawater – in turn harming biodiversity and and reducing the ocean’s ability to absorb CO2.
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