UN member states yesterday opened two weeks of negotiations aimed at reaching a treaty meant to protect and preserve vast areas of the world’s oceans.
After more than 15 years of formal and informal talks, this is the third time in less than a year that negotiators have met in New York in what, yet again, is meant to be a final and conclusive round.
On the eve of the talks, set to run until March 3, cautious optimism appears to be taking hold, encouraged by a historic agreement reached in Montreal in December during the UN’s COP15 session on biodiversity.
Photo: AP
Countries there committed themselves to protecting 30 percent of the world’s lands and seas by 2030 — a nearly impossible challenge if it fails to include the high seas, of which only about 1 percent is protected.
“We’re optimistic the COP15 biodiversity agreement will provide the shot in the arm needed for governments to get this important agreement over the line,” WWF International Oceans Practice leader Pepe Clarke said in a statement.
The high seas begin at the border of countries’ exclusive economic zones, which extend up to 370km from coastlines.
They thus fall under the jurisdiction of no country.
While the high seas comprise more than 60 percent of the world’s oceans and nearly half the surface of the planet, they have long drawn far less attention than coastal waters and a few iconic species.
With no borders at sea, there is “just one ocean, and a healthy ocean means a healthy planet,” High Seas Alliance campaign lead Nathalie Rey said.
Ocean ecosystems — threatened by climate change, pollution and overfishing — create half the oxygen we breathe and limit global warming by absorbing much of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities.
Despite the optimism of some observers and the informal talks that have taken place since the last formal session in August last year, the oceans’ defenders warn that failure is still possible.
“If they do fail again, I think it really calls into question the process itself,” Pew Charitable Trusts project director Liz Karan said.
“These talks are one final chance to deliver. Governments must not fail,” Greenpeace Nordic polar adviser Laura Meller said. “We’re already in extra time.”
The draft treaty, full of parenthetic clauses and multiple options, reflects the long list of contentious issues still on the table.
While the principle of creating marine protected areas is a core part of the mandate, delegations remain divided on how exactly these sanctuary zones would be established.
There is also no agreement on how to assess the environmental impact of activities such as mining in the high seas.
Debate also continues on how to divide eventual profits from the collection — by pharmaceutical, chemical or cosmetic manufacturers, for example — of newly discovered marine substances. Developing countries, without the means to afford costly research, have said they fear being left aside while others make windfall gains.
During the August session, observers accused rich countries, notably EU member states, of making only a last-minute gesture in this direction.
On behalf of ocean defenders around the world, actress and activist Jane Fonda yesterday was scheduled to present conference president Rena Lee with a petition signed by 5 million people calling for a “strong” treaty.
Strong language in the treaty is vital, given its potential complexity and vast reach, and the need to work with varying authorities throughout the oceans, observers said.
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