After two weeks of negotiations, the United Nations (UN) countries separated, on Friday 26 August, without reaching an agreement on a treaty to protect the high seas.
The 5th Intergovernmental Conference to negotiate the UN High Seas Biodiversity Treaty suspended its session “with significant progress made in almost all chapters, bringing the international community closer than ever to the Treaty it needs for protecting the ocean, tackling environmental degradation, fighting climate change, and preventing biodiversity loss, including through establishing large-scale marine protected areas”, the European Commission noted on Saturday 27 August.
The 50 or so member countries of the High Ambition Coalition, led by the European Union, have called for an agreement this year that will really protect the ocean (see EUROPE 12889/1).
Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, is rather confident, despite this failure. “An agreement is in sight. I am confident that we will not have to wait much longer for the negotiations to be successfully concluded. The EU remains focused on achieving a universal, inclusive, and enforceable agreement that will contribute to protecting marine biodiversity and ecosystems, absorbing large amounts of global carbon emissions and strengthening the resilience of our ocean”.
“We have never been so close to the finish line in this process”, said the conference chair, Rena Lee, noting “excellent progress”.
The request to resume this 5th session at a date yet to be determined will now be submitted to the UN General Assembly.
Among the most controversial issues is the sharing of possible profits gained from developing genetic resources in international waters, where pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies hope to find miracle drugs, products or cures. Responding to the demands of developing countries, which fear that they will miss out on potential benefits because they cannot conduct this costly research, the latest draft text leaves on the table the initial redistribution of 2% - and eventually up to 8% - of future sales of products from these resources, which belong to no one.
This future treaty specifically targets the high seas, which begin where states’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) end, at a maximum of 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coast, and which are therefore not under the jurisdiction of any country. Although the health of marine ecosystems is crucial for the future of humanity, particularly for limiting global warming, only 1% of this space, which represents 60% of the oceans, is protected.
One of the pillars of the ‘Treaty on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction’ is to allow for the creation of marine protected areas. The delegations still disagree on the process of creating these protected areas and on the modalities of application of the obligation of environmental impact studies before a new activity on the high seas.
The High Seas Treaty will be key to achieving the ambitious goal of protecting at least 30% of the world’s oceans, the Commission said. The EU is also promoting this important objective in the discussions on the new global framework for biodiversity post-2020 under the Convention on Biological Diversity. “Despite all efforts, the international community has failed to reach the finish line, with multilateral efforts often held back by Russia and China, determined to derail the negotiations”, the Commission reports.
On the NGO side, the Pew Charitable Trusts called for a new session by the end of the year. Greenpeace said that “while countries continue to talk, the oceans and those who depend on them suffer”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)