Rabat- After more than a decade of inconclusive discussions about high seas protection, the United Nations failed to pass a global agreement protecting the ocean and marine life after the fifth round of discussions.
The fifth round of negotiations at the UN headquarters, which started on Aug 15, was suspended on Saturday last week without establishing a UN ocean treaty.
The discussions aimed at designing a treaty that would protect biodiversity in international waters called high seas, which represents two-thirds of the world’s oceans.
A UN Convention on the Law of the Sea signed in 1982 defined the high seas as maritime territory beyond any country’s jurisdiction, where all states can fish, navigate, and do research for “peaceful purposes.”
According to the Protected Planet website gathering the world’s latest statistics on protected areas, only 1.44% of the high seas are protected.
At a UN ocean conference in Lisbon in June, the UN General-Secretary Antonio Guterres declared that the world is facing an “ocean emergency” urging governments to take collective action.
For two weeks, UN state members focused on establishing protected areas, preventing the impact of human activity on the high seas, sharing benefits from marine life, and supporting developing countries for future oceanic explorations.
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Greenpeace holds the High Ambition Coalition, an intergovernmental group of more than 100 countries including Canada and the US, responsible for the failed negotiations on Saturday.
“While progress has been made, particularly on Ocean Sanctuaries, members of the High Ambition Coalition and countries like the USA have moved too slowly to find compromises, despite their commitments,” said Laura Meller of Greenpeace’s Protect the Oceans campaign.
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The High Ambition Coalition, which Morocco is part of, attempts to protect 30% of the world’s land and ocean by 2030, a target that scientists consider as the bare minimum to give the oceans space to recover.
Without an agreement however, the coalition’s commitments are not legally binding.
“While some groups, like the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean group, have pushed hard to bring the treaty across the finishing line, Global North countries have only started working to reach compromises in the final days of negotiations,” reported Meller in a Geenpeace press release.
Greenpeace blames the High Ambition Coalition, the US, and Canada for prioritizing potential future benefits from marine genetic resources over protecting the oceans.
Russia is also presented as a major obstacle in the negotiations, with their refusal to engage in the treaty process.
Marine genetic resources include marine biochemicals that could be used as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food supplements, research, and industrial components.
Costly, extensive research at sea remains a privilege of richer nations, but developing countries should not be left out from receiving potential benefits from marine territories that are not even specifically owned by one country.
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Further talks will resume next year unless the UN general assembly schedules a special emergency session to reach an agreement before the end of 2022.
“11 million square kilometers of the ocean must be protected annually between now and 2030 to protect 30% of the world’s oceans in the timescale scientists say is necessary,” said Greenpeace. “For that, a Global Ocean Treaty must be adopted with no delays this year.”
