Last week, the landmark Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty, also known as the High Seas Treaty, reached the 60 ratifications required to enter into force. The threshold was reached at the UN General Assembly in New York, with St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Morocco among the latest to ratify.
Adopted in June 2023 after nearly two decades of negotiations, the treaty will take effect on January 17, 2026. For the first time, it creates a global framework to establish marine protected areas in the high seas, waters beyond national jurisdiction that cover two-thirds of the ocean but remain largely unregulated.
As the first binding international agreement for these waters, it provides tools to curb biodiversity loss and ocean degradation, and sets a path toward protecting 30% of the global ocean by 2030. Currently, only about 1% of international waters are protected.
The treaty also introduces rules for marine genetic resources (MGRs), filling a major gap left by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Until now, genetic materials from international waters were essentially unclaimed, leaving them open to exploitation.
“While sharing the spoils of genetic resources was the most contentious issue, its greatest power lies in its ability to protect the wonders of the high seas, places far offshore like the White Shark Café, the Costa Rica Thermal Dome, and the Gakkel Ridge,” said science journalist Dr. Olive Heffernan, author of The High Seas.
