A new UN convention on protecting the deep sea is ready

At the eleventh hour, or rather the thirtieth, it is clear: the United Nations has a new agreement to protect the world’s sea depths.

– The boat is in port, says conference chairman Rena Lee, and is greeted with a standing ovation in New York.

The deadline is set for 6 p.m. Friday New York time. At 21:30 on Saturday local time, Rina Lee announced that they had agreed on a script.

– I feel like my age since I came to the plenum, you say.

It lasted ten years

United Nations negotiations for a global agreement to protect the deep sea have been going on for just over a decade and broke off near the finish line half a year ago.

A new round of final negotiations on the agreement began two weeks ago in New York.

That negotiations continue means that history has been written, according to Frida Bengson, a researcher at the Stockholm Center for Resilience.

– It’s great. It’s the biggest thing that’s happened to the way we’ve run the sea in 40 years, Frida Bengtsson says.

Finally we can start the work that so many wanted to do. Partly that we can protect marine areas in the open sea, which we haven’t been able to do before, and partly that we’re getting a regulatory framework for human activities at sea.

Only one percent is protected

The agreement concerns the oceans that no country has or cannot control, which cover 45 percent of the Earth’s surface. The deep sea also covers 98 percent of the biosphere, the part of Earth that harbors life.

Today, only about one percent of the deep sea is protected. However, when the agreement comes into force, new protected areas can be created.

– It’s not perfect and it’s not in all parts like we wanted it to be. It contains the most important thing we have been striving for, says Niklas Keppun, who also represents the European Union through Sweden’s presidency.

– It’s also a lot of fun that we’ve been able to push this through our presidency, Kibon continues.

He notes that the agreement is necessary to fulfill a promise made just before Christmas at the UN environmental meeting in Montreal. There, a plan to save nature has been drawn up, a major part of which is protecting 30 percent of the Earth’s surface on land and sea.

Millions in support of the European Union

The sticking point in the negotiations was how to distribute any profits, if new, commercially viable marine resources were discovered in international waters. Developing countries, which are rarely able to afford expensive research, do not want to be left out of the potential benefits.

The debate was largely about ensuring justice between the world’s poorer “South” and the richer countries of the North. The European Union has pledged more than 400 million Swedish kronor to facilitate the ratification of the treaty and to ensure that its implementation begins as soon as possible.

Niklas Kebon says there were parts where they would have liked stronger rules, including environmental protection agreements, and that there should be no exceptions to them.

– Now there is a certain possibility to opt out. But he said that this happened with the aim of ensuring that the largest possible number of countries would join this agreement.

different expectations

Niklas Kibon believes that it took a long time to agree on a text in the final stages due to polarization within the UN.

Different expectations between what you want and what is possible make it difficult to come to an agreement.

Since it has been delayed for more than a day, the agreement has not yet been adopted. Formalities remain – such as language review and translation into the six official languages ​​of the United Nations, as well as legal review of documents. Then they meet again in a few weeks to formally adopt the agreement.

– But the political agreement on the agreement itself is now there, Keppon says.

Frieda Bengson estimates that the treaty will be well implemented.

– There have already been processes where candidate areas for protection have been identified. She says that many countries are waiting to be able to participate in this process and designate areas for protection.