UK urged to ratify high seas treaty to avoid being shut out of Ocean Cop summit | Marine life
The UK risks being excluded from the historic oceans summit because parliament has not ratified the UN high seas treaty, environmental charities and campaigners have warned.
The high seas agreement, formally known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, came into force on Saturday after two decades of negotiations.
But although the UK has signed the agreement, the bill to ratify it, introduced last September, still needs to be passed by parliament and presented to the UN.
In a letter to the foreign secretary, the heads of 18 environmental charities in the UK condemned the “government’s slow progress” on ratifying the deal, which is due to be formally agreed in 2023. They are calling for the bill to be passed in time for the first Ocean Cop summit, expected to take place later this year, to ensure the UK is included.
“Disappointingly, while the world celebrates, the UK is still not among the 81 countries that have signed and enacted the treaty, including China, France, Japan, Spain, Mexico and Brazil,” the letter says. “We are calling on the government to complete this at least 30 days before the first Ocean Cop, which could take place as early as August this year, to ensure UK participation there. To miss this would be a failure of leadership.”
biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction bill It will be discussed for the third time in the House of Lords on Monday. The State Department has been contacted for comment.
The high seas form part of the global commons covering almost half the planet. However, since they are located beyond national borders, there has been no legal framework to protect biodiversity until now.
Marine Conservation Institute president Dr. “The entry into force of the high seas treaty marks a long-awaited milestone for ocean governance,” said Lance Morgan. “For decades, these vast waters and the abundance of biodiversity that inhabit them were beyond effective protection. Now the global community has the authority and responsibility to act.”
The new agreement creates the tools to establish marine protected areas on the high seas for the first time and sets clear obligations on how to ensure sustainable use of ocean resources.
A striking new mural will be unveiled in St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex this weekend to celebrate the agreement coming into force. The colorful artwork, which is twice the length of a double-decker bus, was painted on the town’s beachside Bathing Hut cafe as part of a global action in which artists, indigenous peoples, activists and communities from 13 countries across five continents are working with Greenpeace, representing every ocean, to create street art inspired by ocean conservation to commemorate this important moment.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The UK government is committed to passing this into law using the standard democratic parliamentary process. This agreement was signed under the last government and this government is committed to ratifying it quickly.”
