What are the provisions of the High Seas Treaty?

• Recently, the UN adopted the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) or the High Seas Treaty.
• It became the third agreement to be approved under UNCLOS

The Background

• The idea of protecting the marine environment emerged in 2002.
• By 2008, the need for implementing an agreement was recognised
• This led to the UNGA resolution in 2015 to form a Preparatory Committee to create the treaty.
• The Committee recommended the holding of intergovernmental conferences (IGC) and after negotiations, the treaty was adopted in 2023.
• The treaty’s objective is to implement international regulations to protect life in oceans beyond national jurisdiction through international cooperation.

The High Seas Treaty

• The treaty aims to address critical issues such as the increasing sea surface temperatures, overexploitation of marine biodiversity, overfishing, coastal pollution, and unsustainable practices beyond national jurisdiction.
• It aims to establish marine protected areas to protect oceans from human activities through a “three-quarterly majority vote,”
• It mandates sharing of scientific information and monetary benefits through installing a “clear house mechanism.”
  • Through the mechanism, information on marine protected areas, marine genetic resources, and “area-based management tools” will be open to access for all parties.
  • This is done to bring transparency and boost cooperation.
• The last pillar of the treaty is capacity building and marine technology.
  • The Scientific and Technical Body will play a significant role in environmental impact assessment.
  • It will be creating standards and guidelines for assessment procedures, and helping countries with less capacity in carrying out assessments.
  • This will facilitate the parties to trace future impacts, identify data gaps, and bring out research priorities.

Reasons for the delay

• The marine genetic resources issue was the treaty’s most contended element due to the absence of a provision to monitor information sharing.
• The use of the phrases “promote” or “ensure” in different parts of the treaty, especially with respect to the sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources, was heavily debated over.
• There was prolonged negotiation over the adjacency issue too.

Who opposed the treaty?

• Many developed countries opposed the treaty as they stand by private entities which are at the forefront of advanced research and development in marine technology
  • Patents relating to marine genetic resources are held by a small group of private companies
• Russia and China also are not in favour of the treaty.
• Russia argues that the treaty does not balance conservation and sustainability.