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UN High Seas Treaty
September 4 , 2022
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- It is also referred to as the ‘Paris Agreement for the Ocean’.
- It was the treaty to deal with Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction.
- It aimed to agree on a UN treaty for protecting ocean.
- It was a negotiation involving 168 countries, including the European Union.
- But it failed completely at the end of talks.
- In June, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had declared an “ocean emergency” at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.
- It concerns the ocean existing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zones.
- That lie from the coast of a country to about 200 nautical miles or 370 km into the sea, till where it has special rights for exploration.
- Waters beyond that are known as open seas or high seas.
- The treaty was to be negotiated under the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982
- UNCLOS governs the rights of countries regarding marine resources.
- The UNCLOS led to the establishment of territorial sea boundaries 22 km offshore, deciding the region up to which countries could claim full sovereign territorial rights, as well as the 200 nautical miles EEZ limit.
- It also created the International Seabed Authority and other conflict-resolution mechanisms.
- But as of now, there is no treaty for conserving the health of vast swathes of the earth’s oceans.
- Conversely, every country has the right to access open seas.
- It will be resulting in large-scale drilling and trawling operations for catching fish and other animals for commercial purposes.
- High Ambition Coalition was formed with the participation of more than 100 countries including India, the US, and the UK.
- It came about and put the focus on ‘30×30’ goals – protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.
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