The global agreement to protect the ocean is valid after the sixty ratification

The first treaty for the protection of maritime diversity in international waters will enter into force early next year after Morocco became the sixty nation that approves the agreement on Friday.

The Treaty of the High Seas is the first legal framework aimed at protecting marine biological diversity in international waters – those that are outside the jurisdiction of any one country. International waters represent nearly two -thirds of the ocean and about half of the Earth’s surface, and they are vulnerable to threats including overfishing, climate change and mining in the depths of the seas.

“The highest seas are the largest crime theater in the world-it is not managed, and it is not implemented, and it is very necessary, and it is a very necessary organizational legal structure,” said Johan Berganas, the first vice president of oceans in the Global Wildlife Fund.

However, the strength of the agreement is unconfirmed, because some of the largest players in the world – the United States, China, Russia and Japan – have not yet befriended. The United States and China have signed, indicating its consent with the goals of the treaty without creating legal obligations, while Japan and Russia were active in preparatory talks.

Canada has The treaty signed But you haven’t believed it yet.

Certification leads to a 120 -day countdown to the treaty to become valid. But more work remains to collect how it will be implemented, funded and enforced.

“You need larger boats, more fuel, more training and a different regulatory system,” said Bergenas. “Constituent Treaty – It begins hard work.”

How to work

The high seas are home to a group of marine life and are decisive in organizing the Earth’s climate – it absorbs heat and carbon dioxide, and generates half of the oxygen that we breathe. The treaty is also necessary to achieve what is known as the target of 30 x 30 – an international pledge to protect 30 percent of the planet and the sea by 2030.

The treaty creates a legal process for countries to create marine protected areas in that water, including rules for potential destructive activities such as depths of the depths of the seas and geological engineering. It also creates a framework for technology exchange, financing mechanisms and scientific cooperation between countries.

It is important, decisions will be taken under the treaty through what is known as the Conferences of the Parties, and not by the individual countries that act alone.

Within one year of the treaty of the treaty, the two countries will meet to take decisions on implementation, financing and supervision, and only countries that ratify before that will have voting rights.

Fears of implementation

Some experts warn that the effect of the treaty can be deceived if the strongest players on the high seas remain outside.

“If the major hunting countries such as China, Russia and Japan do not join, they can undermine protected areas,” said Guermo Crespo, an expert on the high seas of the Nature Preservation Committee (IUCN.

“It will be interesting to see how the treaty will implement without those who historically used the largest resources in the high seas.”

The treaty does not create its own punitive enforcement body. Instead, it depends largely on the individual countries to organize their ships and companies.

“The Ocean Governance Consulting Blue financing.

This makes global ratification necessary. “If someone does not subscribe, they will argue that they are not bound.”

Enric Sala, founder of the National Geographic Seas Seas Marine Reserve project, warned that some countries may now indicate the treaty as a reason to delay or avoid preservation efforts inside their waters.

“There are countries that use the process to justify the failure at home,” he said.

Marine ecosystems are at risk

Lisa Speer, director of the International Ocean Program of the Council of Natural Resources Defense, said the failure to protect the high seas may mean harm to the waters of any individual country.

“Marine life does not respect the political borders. So fish migrate across the ocean,” said Speer. “The same with turtles, with marine birds and a full set of other marine life.

“Thus what happens in the sea height can really affect the health of the ocean and the elasticity of the ocean within the national judicial jurisdiction, within our coastal waters.”

Ocean exploration leader Silvia Earl welcomed the ratification, but urged the leaders not to see him as a final line.

“This is a method – not the end point,” she said.

“If we continue to take the ocean on the scale, we use the ocean nowadays, and use a discharge site as we are nowadays, yes, we put fish, whales and caramel in the Antarctica and the upper sea in danger, but often, we put ourselves in danger.”

For small island countries like Vanuatu, the treaty is a big step towards inclusion in decisions that have long been on hand.

“Everything that affects the ocean affects us,” said Ralph Regenvano, Minister of Climate Change in Vanuao.