Treaty on the high seas: an inclusive agreement with the challenge of facilitating cooperation

The first treaty for the protection of the high seasadopted by consensus this week by the UNstands out for its inclusiveness but also presents challenges, such as aligning the institutional and budgetary capacities of the countries and cooperation so that it achieves its ambitious objectives of conservation of the oceans and equity in access to their wealth.

The agreement marks a “milestone after all this effort that has taken more than 15 years” and that has involved “many organizations of all kinds (NGOs, business), States, governments, civil society and even coastal populations and indigenous peoples”, said MarViva’s Advocacy Manager, Panamanian Tania Arosemena.

“We want to highlight at MarViva that achievement of being able to include, this is an inclusive treaty, not only at the country level but at the sector level”affirmed this lawyer with a specialization in development of the maritime sector and a postgraduate degree in environmental impact assessment.

The high seas are the waters located more than 200 nautical miles from the coast. They represent two thirds of the total oceans, but only 1% is currently protected, as highlighted by MarViva.

Not belonging to the jurisdiction of any nation, adds this foundation with a presence in Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia, the high seas is an unprotected area, which has caused it to be highly threatened by overfishing, pollution and other human activities.

“The high seas is a good that seems to belong to no one but really belongs to all of us (…) the sea belongs to all of us and we are against time to protect it. The high seas is that border that we need to protect, take advantage of in a sustainable way, because that will guarantee life on our planet”Arosemena said.

The novelties of a treaty that seeks to establish order

The treaty must be signed and ratified by at least 60 countries for it to enter into force. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, asked governments to be diligent in this signing process, which will begin on September 20.

“The exhortation to governments is that in addition to ratifying it, they should encourage and support efforts to raise awareness of the treaty”for “to be able to continue adding the actors who may have a place at the table to implement it in an equitable, fair, consistent and inclusive way”Arosemena said.

MarViva stresses that the agreement introduces consistent assessments of the environmental impact of human activities on the high seas, ensures a fair and equitable sharing of the benefits of marine genetic resources, strengthens the capacity of countries to implement the agreement and provides a pathway for creation of marine protected areas.

“Each nation can have its regulation but the treaty is a measure to establish an order” at sea, explained Arosemena, who has 21 years of experience in the environmental legal field.

Precisely, the expert stressed that the treaty “It is an important instrument for environmental impact assessments”, for the purpose of “predict and analyze impacts of the activities that can be developed, future impacts, cumulative impacts”.

This becomes especially relevant with the advent of new technologies that open the door to mining at the bottom of the seas and more intensive fishing.

“The part of the creation of capacities and transfer of marine technology is also vital and fundamental. In other words, we live in a world that is surrounded by the sea but most of the countries turn their backs on the sea, we do not have the capacities at the institutional level, we do not have the capacities at the academic level, in decision-making, at the level of the populations, this is a challenge”, Arosemana added.

It is so, he added“there is a vital job of being able to transfer this knowledge even from the nations that have more capacity to those that have less”.

Source: EFE