LAST week, the United Nations High Seas Treaty, also referred to as the BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) agreement, became international law.
The treaty lays down the legal parameters for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of the world’s oceans.
The UN considers the BBNJ as a “game-changing” agreement, a major step in efforts to ensure the health of ocean ecosystems.
It is the first legally binding instrument “to provide for inclusive ocean governance, with provisions on the engagement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and on gender balance.”
The UN also sees the treaty as vital to addressing the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Eighty-one countries, including the Philippines, ratified the agreement. The United States is not among them, which is intriguing; not only is the US world’s biggest economy, but it is also one of the top five maritime export shippers.
Before the BBNJ came into being, less than 1 percent of the high seas was protected by international maritime laws. The treaty now makes protecting the oceans a global obligation.
The treaty covers a vast array of activities, including commercial fishing, seabed exploration and marine scientific research.
Protecting the high seas has long been an empty slogan that is not backed up by direct, decisive action. UN Secretary-General António Guterres blames this flaw on greed.
Guterres said greed sows doubt, denies science, distorts truth, rewards corruption, and destroys life for profit. “We cannot let greed dictate the fate of our planet,” he stressed.
Guterres pressed governments, business leaders, fishers and scientists to focus on four priorities: Transform ocean harvesting by meeting the “30 by 30” goal to conserve 30 percent of oceans by 2030; phase out single-use plastics and improve recycling; fight climate change at sea; and enforce the High Seas Treaty.
Enforcement will be a formidable challenge. “We’ll have procedures. We’ll have regulations that countries need to follow. So, it’s a huge thing,” noted Greenpeace official Nichanan Tanthanawit.
Under the treaty, countries are encouraged to establish marine protected areas or MPAs in international waters where human activities are restricted to protect ecosystems and biodiversity.
Mzee Ali Haji, a Tanzanian diplomat who took part in BBNJ discussions, said everyone “should bear in mind that there is now control of the activity in the high seas. For instance, when you pollute, you are responsible for your acts.”
The High Seas Treaty is expected to have a particularly deep impact on Asia, the world’s largest producer of aquatic foods, employing 85 percent of the world’s fishers and aquaculture workers.
The Philippines, which ratified the treaty last Sept. 23, is working with Japan to align its marine conservation pathways with the BBNJ.
China has even offered to host the secretariat of the High Seas Treaty to “help shape global rules.”
For Rena Lee, Singapore’s ambassador for international law, the treaty is a two-way street. “What happens far out in the high seas in the Pacific or Indian Ocean or even in the Atlantic does have an impact on what happens in our near shore waters,” Lee told Singapore news organization CNA. “And what we do in our waters has an impact on the areas beyond national jurisdiction.”
The treaty could hold the key to resolving Southeast Asia’s lingering problem: overfishing, which is driven by overcapacity, high demand and population growth.
More than half of the world’s fishing vessels operate in the region’s waters, which employ 3.7 million people, and likely many more are engaged in illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, according to one study.
Overfishing encouraged by government subsidies, harmful fishing practices, and large-scale clam harvesting and dredging for island construction also threaten Southeast Asia’s marine ecosystems.
The establishment of MPAs could stem this menace.
Because the treaty builds on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), another vital international maritime agreement, it could help dissipate the geopolitical turbulence in the South China Sea, where territorial disputes have defied resolution.
It provides claimant countries with another platform where they could discuss transforming the region into what a futurist foresees as “a hub of economic synergy, technological advancement, and environmental resilience.”