Sixty countries have now ratified 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 Agreement), also known as the High Seas Treaty. The countdown has begun and the law will enter into force January 17, 2026.
Secretary-General António Guterres called the ratification a “historic achievement for the ocean and for multilateralism… The ocean’s health is humanity’s health,” he said.
Since its founding in 2011, the High Seas Alliance has been working towards protecting the 50% of the planet that is the High Seas; the global ocean beyond national jurisdiction. This area includes some of the most biologically important, least protected, and most critically threatened ecosystems in the world.
For most of the High Seas, there have been no legally binding mechanisms for establishing marine protected areas or a global coordination mechanism to assess the environmental impacts of activities in areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction. The sixtieth country to ratify will trigger a hundred-and-twenty-day countdown, when the global Agreement will enter into force and become international law.
In the last few weeks a spate of countries has ratified the agreement, the final three being St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone and Morocco.
“In two years, States have turned commitment into action – proving what is possible when nations unite for the common good,” Gutierrez said in a statement. “As we confront the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, this agreement is a lifeline for the ocean and humanity.”
The pact establishes legally binding rules to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity, share benefits from marine genetic resources more fairly, create protected areas, and strengthen scientific cooperation and capacity building.
