The high seas and their resources are the last major frontier in our attempts to manage the ocean. The process of formulating a High Seas Treaty continues at the UN in New York and this is prompting commentary and reports. These four articles gives you some sense of this.

1.Guardian: Gillian Anderson  Overview Today, governments will begin negotiating the first draft text of a global ocean treaty at the UN in New York that would cover waters that lie beyond national borders. This vast expanse of sea covers almost 50% of the Earth’s surface. If they get it wrong the treaty could entrench many of the worst practices that are impacting our oceans. But if they get it right the treaty could pave the way for the creation of a network of ocean sanctuaries, making 30% of our marine world off-limits to human activity.

2. A Rescue Plan for the Ocean

A comprehensive High Seas Treaty and extensive marine protected areas are urgently needed in the next decade to preserve life-supporting ocean function. These are just two of eight measures recommended in a study, to which Torsten Thiele from the Ocean Governance team at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) contributed. Click here to read more

3. A new scientific Paper from IPSO says eight urgent, simultaneous actionsare needed to head off potential ecological disaster in the global ocean, amid signs of steeper and faster changes than even recent models predicted. Experts convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) warn that failure to take action in the next ten years to halt damage caused by unprecedented rates of climate heating and other human activities could result in catastrophic changes in the functioning of the global ocean, threatening vital ecosystems and disrupting human civilisation. Click here to read the paper

4.Economist article on deep sea mining 

International Seabed Authority under pressure over deep-sea mining impacts The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is under increasing pressure from environmental campaigners over the potential impacts of the nascent deep-sea mining industry. The World Ocean Initiative reports from the ISA’s annual meeting in Kingston, Jamaica. Click here to read more