UN high seas treaty expected to be adopted in June

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations has set dates in June to formally adopt the world body’s historic high seas treaty, following a General Assembly resolution agreed upon on Tuesday.

The text of the high seas treaty was finally agreed on in March, after 15 years of discussions and four years of formal negotiations.

The landmark accord would establish a legal framework to extend swathes of environmental protections to international waters around the globe.

But it has yet to be formally adopted, needing first to be scrutinised by legal experts and translated across the UN’s six working languages.

The meeting to adopt the treaty is “tentatively” set for June 19 and 20.

After its adoption, individual member states would then be able to ratify it.

“We’re excited to see the continued positive momentum for this new treaty,” Ms Nichola Clark of the non-profit Pew Charitable Trusts told AFP.

“There are a few other steps that have to be taken before the negotiations can formally close – and this resolution would help us do just that by setting up a time for the treaty to be officially adopted.”

Currently, almost all protected marine areas lie within individual countries’ national territorial waters.

The treaty would allow protections to be extended outside of exclusive economic zones (EEZ), which extend to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from coastlines.

More than 60 per cent of the ocean falls outside EEZs.

The treaty would also require environmental impact studies for activities like deep-sea mining.

It is crucial to protect the high seas, say scientists, given their immense biodiversity and important role in generating oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide.

As things stand, the waters are at risk from pollution, global warming and overfishing.

The treaty will go into effect once at least 60 countries ratify it. AFP