29 Apr 2025

Image description: Three European flags in a line. Image by Marco / Pexels.   The European Commission is pushing ahead with a new directive to bring the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement into EU law – a move Fishing Daily reports as an attempt to both show leadership ahead of the UN Ocean Conference […]

29 Oct 2024

Image: Dimitris Vetsikas/Pixabay   The High Seas Treaty currently fills a key gap in international governance by establishing a mechanism for governments to establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the high seas. But funding is needed to kickstart the work of accelerating these MPAs, with a focus on supporting the Global South leadership ambitions and […]

25 Jun 2024

Governments will meet at the United Nations HQ in New York this week to work on the UN Ocean Treaty, for the first time since it opened for signatures in September 2023. The Conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction treaty, also commonly known as the BBNJ or High […]

18 Jun 2024

The European Council – an institution of the 27-member European Union which defines the general political direction and priorities of the EU – has adopted a decision to conclude the United Nations agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), also known as the ‘High Seas Treaty’. With this decision, the EU is now ready to formally deposit […]

30 Apr 2024

The European Union has voted in favour of ratifying the UN High Seas Treaty. The treaty aims to protect marine life in areas that are outside of countries’ maritime borders including the high seas and the seabed. The high seas are areas of the ocean that lie beyond national boundaries, with only 1% of these […]

26 Sep 2023

A major new analysis of the threats facing the oceans has been released in a Greenpeace report: 30×30: From Global Ocean Treaty to Protection at Sea. The report also sets out a political roadmap to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030 – the United Nations’ 30×30 target – using the new Ocean Treaty.   © […]

18 Sep 2023

From 20 September, the UN’s high seas treaty will be open for signatures – an important moment that starts the process for nations to ratify it into their own laws. At least 60 countries must do so for the treaty to come into force. Scientists hope that it will finally allow marine protected areas (MPAs) […]

06 Mar 2023

In a historic breakthrough, United Nations members have finalised a landmark treaty in the international waters that lie outside any one country’s territory after nearly two decades of talks. The commonly referred to ‘High Seas Treaty’, or more fully the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ / ABNJ), is the […]