United Nations, United States

The member states of the historic treaty to protect the high seas will propose holding their first formal meeting (COP1) in January 2027 at UN Headquarters in New York.

Following consultations with the various member states, “we will recommend to the Secretary-General that the first COP meeting be convened from January 11 to 22, 2027, at UN Headquarters,” said Janine Coye-Felson, co-chair of the preparatory committee for the implementation of this treaty, which officially entered into force at the beginning of the year.

This preparatory committee is holding its final two-week meeting in New York to prepare the decisions that will need to be made at the first COP, such as certain operating rules and the location of the secretariat.

After years of waiting for ocean advocates, the treaty—now ratified by 85 countries and signed by 144—officially entered into force at the end of January.

However, most of the provisions it outlines will require specific decisions from successive COPs to take effect, particularly future marine protected areas on the high seas.

The text, adopted in June 2023, aims to counter the many threats facing the oceans.

While marine ecosystems are threatened by climate change, pollution, and overfishing, science has proven the importance of protecting these oceans in their entirety—oceans teeming with biodiversity, much of it microscopic—which provide half of the oxygen we breathe and limit global warming by absorbing a significant portion of the CO2 emitted by human activities.

The high seas begin where a country’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs) end, at a maximum of 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coast, and fall under the jurisdiction of no state.

Although they cover nearly half the planet and more than 60% of the oceans, they have long been overlooked in the fight for the environment.

Today, only about 1% of the high seas is subject to conservation measures. But in 2022, all the world’s nations committed at COP15 on biodiversity to protect 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030. To achieve this, the new treaty is crucial.

Humaniterre with AFP