Oceans: what changes with the entry into force of the High Seas Treaty
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
With ratification by 68 governments, along with 143 signatures, the High Seas Treaty will enter into force on 17 January 2026.
Oceans: what changes with the entry into force of the High Seas Treaty
With ratification by 68 governments, along with 143 signatures, the High Seas Treaty will enter into force on 17 January 2026.
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (Unoc3), held in Nice from 9 to 13 June, had brought the ratification of the High Seas Treaty within close reach. The treaty is intended to protect marine biodiversity in international waters — those located more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from coastlines and therefore falling outside the jurisdiction of any single country. At the close of the summit in France, only around ten ratifications were still needed, and on 17 September the minimum required threshold was reached: 68 governments have decided to adopt the text (and a total of 143 have signed it), meaning it will enter into force 120 days later, on 17 January 2026.
🧵New video captures the leadership at "From Nice to New York: Activating the High Seas Treaty!" on the margins of UNGA, where heads of state, ministers, ocean champions from civil society & philanthropy all came together to celebrate the ratification of the #HighSeasTreaty!
What the High Seas Treaty will — and will not — allow
The High Seas Treaty focuses on the protection and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in "no man's waters" — international waters, precisely. It will effectively fall to the Conference of the Parties (COP) dedicated to the oceans to attempt to enforce its decisions, alongside other regional organisations that have previously been granted authority over certain stretches of ocean surface (for instance in matters of fishing or mineral exploration).
The conditional tense is, however, obligatory here. First and foremost, everything decided at the international level under the United Nations umbrella regarding the oceans will be binding only on paper. Governments that have ratified the treaty commit to respecting it, but no sanctions mechanism is in place for those who fail to do so. Moreover, not all nations have adopted the text, meaning some will be free to continue operating according to their own criteria.
For instance, Donald Trump's United States recently decided to grant permits for mineral exploitation on the seabed of international waters — and did so unilaterally, given that Washington is not even a member of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
The focus is on protected areas, but how they will be created and enforced remains unclear
That said, in the hope that (at least) the countries that have adopted the Treaty will choose to respect it, the principal instrument available to the oceans COP is that of marine protected areas. These, at present, exist almost exclusively within each country's territorial waters. The United Nations will now be able to propose them in international waters as well (based on specific procedures and subject to a request from multiple nations).
https://twtter.com/IocUnesco/status/1970516373106302992
The High Seas Treaty does not specify, however, how these areas will concretely be created and enforced — a particularly complex issue, given that the zones in question could be extremely vast and highly remote.
It will be up to governments, not the UN, to authorise activities in the oceans: NGOs disappointed
What has been established is that governments wishing to carry out activities on the high seas are required to assess potential negative impacts, among those considered "not minor or transitory". They will also be required to publish dedicated reports over time, in order to allow for continuous monitoring of different situations.
But the final decision on authorising activities such as drilling, for example, will remain with the individual state. This point has deeply disappointed environmental non-governmental organisations, which argue that if concessions were approved by the COP, the guarantees for the environment would be considerably stronger.
The High Seas Treaty does not specify which activities it applies to
Furthermore, a source of concern is the fact that the High Seas Treaty does not include a list of the activities in question. It can be assumed that fishing, shipping and mineral exploration would fall among those to which the text applies, but from a strictly legal standpoint, the absence of such a list could give rise to problems.
It is known that landlocked nations will not be excluded. This also reflects an attempt at a more equitable distribution of resources — for instance, in favour of pharmaceutical companies that may need them for their production processes. From the standpoint of scientific research, moreover, the aim is to foster the sharing of knowledge through an "open-access platform".