TREATY
ON MARINE BIODIVERSITY OF AREAS BEYOND NATIONAL JURISDICTION - ENVIRONMENT
News:
●
The UN member states agreed on a historic
treaty for protecting marine life in
international waters that lie outside the jurisdiction of any country,
marking the culmination of over a decade of negotiations to protect the high seas that cover nearly two-thirds of
the global ocean.
About
the treaty:
●
The draft agreement of the ‘High Seas
Treaty’ recognises the need to address
biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems of the ocean and proposes
rules to protect oceans outside national borders and regarding the sustainable
use of its resources.
●
It places “30% of the world’s oceans into
protected areas, puts more money into marine conservation and covers access to
and use of marine genetic resources,” as per the United Nations.
●
A marine
protected area (MPA) is defined as a “geographically defined marine area
that is designated and managed to achieve specific long-term biodiversity
conservation objectives and may allow, where appropriate, sustainable use
provided it is consistent with the conservation objectives.”
Key
features:
1.
Developing countries access to benefits:
●
The treaty has agreed to set up an access and benefit-sharing
committee to frame guidelines for the developing countries access to
benefits reaped from the commercialisation of resources (especially genetic
resources) extracted from the ocean.
2.
Marine EIA:
●
Signatories will have to conduct
environmental impact assessments before the exploitation of marine resources.
3.
Consent of indigenous people:
●
It stipulates that marine resources in
areas beyond national jurisdiction that are held by indigenous people and local
communities can only be accessed with their
free, prior and informed consent or approval and involvement.
4.
Jurisdiction:
●
No
State can claim its right over marine genetic resources
of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
5.
Clearing house mechanism:
●
Members will have to provide the
clearing-house mechanism, established as part of the treaty, with details like
the objective of the research,
geographical area of collection, names of sponsors.
6.
Funding mechanism:
●
Provision of funding to help developing
countries implement the treaty.
●
A special
fund will be established which will be fixed by the conference of parties,
which will be formed as part of the pact.
Evolution
of the treaty:
●
In 1982,
the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted.
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The Convention delineated rules to govern
the oceans and the use of its resources.
●
After years of informal discussions, the
UNGA decided in 2015 to develop a legally binding instrument within the
framework of UNCLOS.
●
Subsequently, the IGC was convened to frame
a legal instrument on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).
●
Last year, the European Union launched the
High Ambition Coalition on BBNJ to finalise the agreement at the earliest.
●
At the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15),
countries agreed to protect 30% of oceans by 2030, as part of the ’30 x 30
pledge’ made by the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
(GBF) in December 2022.
Significance:
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The pact will be crucial for addressing the planetary crisis of climate change,
biodiversity loss and pollution.
●
This treaty will be very useful to protect the Marine biodiversity and the
local people around the Marine areas.
About
high seas:
●
Parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial waters or
the internal waters of a country are known as the high seas, according to
the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas.
●
It is the area beyond a country’s Exclusive Economic Zone which extends up to 200
nautical miles (370 km) from the coastline and till where a nation has
jurisdiction over living and non-living resources.
●
No
country is responsible for the management and protection of
resources on the high seas.
Importance
of the high seas:
●
The high seas account for more than 60% of the world’s ocean area and
cover about half of the Earth’s surface, which makes them a hub of marine
life.
●
They are home to around 2.7 lakh known species, many of which
are yet to be discovered.
●
The high seas regulate the climate by
playing a fundamental role in planetary stability by mitigating the effects of
climate change through its absorption of
carbon and by storing solar radiation and distributing heat around the
globe.
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In addition, the ocean provides a wealth of resources and services, including
seafood and raw materials, genetic and medicinal resources, air purification,
climate regulation, and aesthetic, scientific and cultural services.
Issues
in the high seas:
1.
El Nino problem:
●
These oceans
absorb heat from the atmosphere, are affected by phenomena like the El
Nino, and are also undergoing acidification - all of which endanger marine
flora and fauna.
2.
Ocean acidification:
●
Several thousand marine species are at a
risk of extinction by 2100, if current warming and acidification trends
continue.
3.
Anthropogenic pressures:
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These pressures on the high seas include seabed mining, noise pollution, chemical
spills and fires, disposal of untreated waste (including antibiotics),
overfishing, introduction of invasive species, and coastal pollution.
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Despite the alarming situation, the high
seas remain as one of the least-protected areas, with only about 1% of it under
protection.