Global Ocean Treaty two years on: UK at risk of missing deadline to sign historic treaty into law

Tuesday 4 March will mark the second anniversary of the Global Ocean Treaty being agreed, a triumph for multilateralism and the greatest conservation victory in history. Bringing it to life as soon as possible is the only way to keep the target to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030 within reach.

To enter into force, the Treaty needs to be ratified by 60 countries and the UK must play its part to ensure this happens. Momentum is growing, with 18 countries having ratified already and many others on track to do so ahead of the UN Ocean Conference taking place in Nice, France, in June.[1] The UK must support other countries to ratify swiftly and quickly follow in the footsteps of other European countries like France and Spain that have already ratified the Treaty[2]. Time is running out, as the pivotal UN Ocean Conference will take place in less than 100 days and the UK may need to pass both primary and secondary legislation to make it happen.

Reshima Sharma, deputy head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said 

“The only reason that the Global Ocean Treaty hasn’t already been signed into UK law is because of a lack of priorisation from this government. David Lammy has talked a lot about putting the nature and climate emergency at the heart of foreign policy, but the government hasn’t deemed an historic global agreement on biodiversity to be worthy of action so far.

“This could be an easy win for Lammy – relatively quick, simple and popular with the public. But unless  the government moves quickly, it will miss the deadline of ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty before the UN Ocean Conference in June, less than 100 days away. This conference is a crucial chance for governments to show global leadership on ocean protection and many states have set this as the deadline for ratification – including the previous UK government. If our government wants to claim leadership on biodiversity, it must move fast and ratify the Treaty before arriving in Nice. The UK should also get on with building support around high seas sites for protection, so that these are ready to present as soon as the Treaty is implemented.  Otherwise it’s just empty words and the potential for embarrassment is high.” 

Governments must support the Treaty by ratifying it quickly and encouraging other states to do the same, so that it can enter into force and rapidly deliver a high seas network of ocean sanctuaries.

Once the agreement enters into force, the first Conference of the Parties (Ocean COP1) will take place within a year. If the UK has failed to ratify as part of this leading cohort, it risks not having a seat at the table at the first COP which will be vital in setting the ambition high for the Treaty’s implementation.

The management of our global oceans is very fragmented and international waters are vulnerable to exploitation including from industrial fishing and oil drilling. Currently there is no legal global instrument that allows for the creation of sanctuaries in international waters [3]. To this day, less than 1% of the high seas – which comprises almost two-thirds of the world’s ocean – is fully or highly protected from human activities. The introduction of high seas sanctuaries would create areas of ocean for delicate ecosystems to restore. 

Lukas Meus, global oceans campaigner based at Greenpeace Austria, said

“We face a moment where nationalist politicians are trying to tear down multilateralism and expand extractivism without limits. The Global Ocean Treaty is a chance to reset ocean governance towards conservation and away from destruction. It can set the model of what multilateralism should look like: centering Indigenous Peoples and local communities, being rooted in science and accountable to the public good.”

Ends

Notes for editors:

[1] The UN Ocean Conference must show a clear path for 60 countries to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty and a critical mass of countries to publicly support a moratorium on deep sea mining ahead of the crucial July 2025 International Seabed Authority meeting.

32 countries are now supporting a moratorium against deep sea mining: Palau, Vanuatu, Spain, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, France, Chile, Germany, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador,  Federated States of Micronesia, Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Finland, Portugal, Monaco, United Kingdom, Mexico, Denmark, Greece, Peru, Malta, Honduras, Tuvalu, Guatemala, Austria.

[2] 18 countries have officially ratified the Global Ocean Treaty (signed it into law): Palau, Chile, Belize, Seychelles, Monaco, Mauritius, Federated States of Micronesia, Cuba, Maldives, Singapore, Bangladesh, Barbados, Timor Leste, Panama, St. Lucia, Spain, France and Malawi.

Latvia, Romania and Slovenia have ratified but not deposited it at the UN yet.

[3] Only the Antarctic Ocean Commission (CCAMLR) and certain regional seas conventions (such as OSPAR) can designate marine protected areas but there are limitations to the geographic scope. Decisions only apply to those governments who are party to the conventions and there are limitations in their abilities to implement protection. This leaves marine life with little protection against all the threats they are facing, like industrial fishing.

[4] The last UK government made some progress towards ratification and stated that its intention was to “to implement and ratify the BBNJ agreement in time for the UN ocean conference in June 2025.” [Hansard]. 

[5] After the general election, the former Minister (Lord Benyon) confirmed in the King’s Speech debate: “we gave clear instructions that a Bill should be prepared by September [2024] and that the Bill should be taken through both Houses and the treaty ratified by World Ocean Day next June.” [Hansard].

Contact:

Alex Sedgwick, press officer at Greenpeace UK: alexandra.sedgwick@greenpeace.org 07739 963 301