Reacción a "Reactions: Oceans Treaty goes ahead after more than 15 years of negotiations"

The Oceans Treaty or BBNJ Treaty (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) began to be discussed at the United Nations in 2006, to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. After a process of more than 16 years of negotiations without reaching an agreement, it seems that today, at last, the treaty has been agreed. 

The oceans produce more than half of the oxygen we breathe, absorb much of the CO₂ produced by human activity (thus limiting global warming), feed much of humanity and are home to most of the planet's biodiversity. Despite this, the oceans are highly threatened by climate change, pollution and overexploitation of their resources, and less than 3% are protected. 

This treaty for international waters proposes to create a global network of Marine Protected Areas covering 30% of the global ocean by 2030 (30x30 target) and representative of major ecosystems. This would protect habitats and species, reverse biodiversity loss and maintain ecosystem services. 

The main stumbling block to reaching consensus, both now and in the past, has been over marine genetic resources, due to how to fairly and equitably share the future benefits of their commercialisation among all states. In the absence of reading the final text, it seems that the agreement is somewhat ambiguous in this respect, and the proposed mechanisms for achieving this are not yet known. 

Although there is room for improvement and the treaty still needs to be ratified by all countries, there is no doubt that a very important step has been taken today to protect the oceans and to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity. Life on Earth depends on the health of the oceans, and we must leave that legacy to our sons and daughters.