After more than 20 years, United Nations members have agreed on a new framework to protect marine life in international waters, as The Journal reports.
The historic treaty was reached late on Saturday night (4 March) at the UN Headquarters in New York following two weeks of discussions.
It will see the creation of a new body to manage conservation of ocean life as well as establish marine protected areas in the high seas.
The move could be a boon to migratory marine wildlife including whales, dolphins, turtles and fish — protections on which have until now been hindered by a lack of legislative unity across various ocean territories.
The treaty also sets ground rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial activity. “It means all activities planned for the high seas need to be looked at, though not all will go through a full assessment,” said Jessica Battle of the Worldwide Fund for Nature.
President Michael D Higgins has welcomed the treaty as “a gain for the future of humanity”.
He added: “It is essential that attention now swiftly moves to formal adoption of the text, to ratification and to implementation.
“Time is of the essence if the 30x30 pledge made by countries at the UN biodiversity conference in December to protect a third of the sea by 2030 can be reached. A target which must be considered a bare minimum.”
