A new international treaty ensuring greater protection of earth’s largest habitat – its oceans – entered into force over the weekend.
The High Seas Treaty, formerly known as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), provides a legal framework for governing activity in international waters.
Only about 1% of the world’s international waters benefitted from any sort of protection prior to the Treaty entering into force.
Now, two thirds of the planet’s marine area is now shielded, leading experts to hail the agreement as a “turning point” in marine conservation and “one of the most important environmental agreements ever”.
The Treaty is built on the understanding that discoveries from marine organisms benefit all humanity and that technology transfer will take place that enables developing nations to participate in marine research.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) will also be created and countries will be obliged to evaluate the ecological impact of any proposed activities in international waters.
Consent from at least 60 countries was required in order for the agreement to become legally binding. This threshold was reached in September 2025 and the number of signatories has now risen to over 80 including China and Japan.
“The entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement… stands as a monument to multilateralism and to the years of dedication, dialogue and cooperative action by countless committed people around the world,” said Rena Lee, who served as President of the Treaty negotiations.
“Global challenges, such as the climate and biodiversity crises, affect all of us. As such, global cooperation is not a choice, it is a necessity. This Treaty embodies hope, resolve, and a shared commitment to a brighter future for the ocean and our planet.”
The Treaty also represents a significant step toward achieving the ‘30×30’ goal of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to conserve and manage at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
