France pushes for action as high seas treaty hangs in the balance

Yahoo

21-05-2025

After decades of negotiations, a landmark treaty to protect the world's high seas stands at a turning point – and France is urging countries to ratify it before a major UN ocean summit opens in Nice next month.
The High Seas Treaty, adopted in June 2023 by 193 countries, aims to protect international waters that cover nearly half the planet.
These areas lie beyond any country's control and remain largely unregulated, despite being vital for marine biodiversity, carbon storage and climate stability.
But the treaty cannot take effect until it is ratified by 60 countries. So far, only 21 have done so.
'What's the point of negotiating a historic treaty if we leave it in a drawer? A signed treaty protects nothing, but a ratified treaty changes everything,' Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, France's ambassador for the poles and oceans, told reporters this week.
Once the 60-country threshold is reached, a 120-day countdown begins before the treaty enters into force.
It would then allow countries to set up marine protected areas in international waters and require environmental checks on potentially harmful activities, such as fishing or deep-sea mining.
Spain and France were the first two European Union countries to ratify the treaty, doing so in early February 2025.
Other major maritime nations – including the United States, Australia, Russia, the United Kingdom and Japan – have signed the treaty but have yet to ratify it.
Poivre d'Arvor urged these top maritime powers to 'take responsibility' and help bring the agreement into force.
Still, the absence of the United States raised concern.
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