Latest news with #highseastreaty
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nations advance ocean protection, vow to defend seabed
A global oceans summit wrapped up Friday with world leaders taking major steps toward marine protection and vowing a showdown when nations meet to negotiate rules for deep-sea mining next month. But as a cacophony of ship foghorns sounded the close of the UN Ocean Conference in France, a lack of funding pledges and the total omission of fossil fuels disappointed some observers. The summit was just the third -- and largest yet -- dedicated entirely to what the United Nations calls an "emergency" in the world's oceans. More than 60 heads of state and government joined thousands of business leaders, scientists and environmental campaigners over five days in the southern city of Nice. - Treaty tide - There was unanimous praise for efforts to ratify the high seas treaty designed to protect marine life in the 60 percent of oceans that lie beyond national waters. Some 19 countries formally ratified the pact at Nice, taking the overall tally to 50 -- but 60 nations are needed to bring the treaty into force. France's oceans envoy, Olivier Poivre d'Arvor, said the numbers would be reached by September and the treaty should take effect by January, 2026. Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, welcomed the "incredible progress" but urged "all remaining nations to ratify without delay". The summit sought a collective lift for oceans even as countries brace for tough talks over deep-sea mining in July and a plastic pollution treaty in August. More than 90 ministers called in Nice for the treaty to enshrine limits on plastic production -- something fiercely opposed by oil-producing nations. The summit also rallied behind a defence of science and rules-based oversight of common resources -- most notably the unknown depths of the oceans -- in a direct rebuke of US President Donald Trump. Trump was not present in Nice and rarely mentioned by name, but his shadow loomed as leaders thundered against his unilateral push to mine the ocean floor for nickel and minerals. - Seabed row - France and like-minded countries vowed to block any effort to permit deep-sea exploration at negotiations over a mining code at the International Seabed Authority next month, said Poivre d'Arvor. "Nobody knows what is there in the deep sea... you cannot launch recklessly down this path," he said in a closing address. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged caution, warning against turning the deep sea into "the wild west". Leaders "made it unmistakably clear: deep-sea mining is one of the biggest threats facing our ocean, and the world is saying no", said Sofia Tsenikli from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. But for all the rhetoric, a global alliance opposed to deep-sea mining only attracted four new members at Nice, rising to 37 nations. - Missing billions - Greece, Samoa and Colombia were among 14 nations who unveiled plans for vast new marine protected areas, taking the share of the world's oceans under conservation to more than 10 percent. Some also announced restrictions on bottom trawling, a destructive fishing method captured in grisly detail in a new David Attenborough documentary. Activists had pushed for a total ban on this kind of trawling, which uses heavy weighted nets dragged across the ocean floor. Developing nations hoping their larger and wealthier counterparts would open the chequebook in Nice were disappointed. Small island nations in particular have long complained they lack the finances required to build seawalls against rising tides and protect their waters from illegal fishers. While private donors pledged around 8.7 billion euros ($10 billion) over the next five years, the UN says $175 billion a year is needed for sustainable ocean development. Fossil fuels -- the main driver of climate change, ocean warming and the acidification of the seas -- were notably absent for a summit dedicated to marine protection. "Ignoring the imperative of phasing out offshore oil and gas is not just an injustice: it is inadmissible," said Bruna Campos from the Center for International Environmental Law. The summit closed with the unanimous adoption of a political statement, negotiated over many months, that contained no mention of coal, oil and gas. "We must all reckon with the reality that you cannot protect the ocean without confronting the biggest root cause bringing it to the breaking point," former US special climate envoy John Kerry said in a statement. np-aag/jj
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Money, mining and marine parks: The big issues at UN ocean summit
France is hosting world leaders this week to confront what the United Nations calls a global "emergency" in the oceans -- but what is expected, and can the summit make a difference? There is pressure on the UN Ocean Conference starting Monday in Nice to show that countries can unite and deliver more than just talk for the world's ailing and neglected seas. - Plundered parks - Several countries are expected to announce the creation of new marine conservation zones within their national waters, though how protected they really are will come under scrutiny. Some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden or permitted in marine zones. France and other EU states, for example, allow bottom trawling, a damaging fishing practice, in protected waters. This means just three percent of oceans are considered truly safe from exploitation, far short of a global target to place 30 percent under conservation by 2030. - High seas - Key to achieving this goal is enacting the high seas treaty, a landmark global pact signed in 2023 to protect marine life in the vast open waters beyond national control. France had pinned success at Nice on delivering the 60 ratifications necessary to bring the treaty into force, saying the conference would be a failure without it. But it could not get the required number, drumming up roughly half ahead of the summit. Those outstanding will be pushed to explain when they intend to do so. - Uncharted waters - France will be leading diplomatic efforts in Nice to rope more countries into supporting a moratorium on deep-sea mining, a contentious practice opposed by 33 nations so far. Bolstering those numbers would send a rebuke to US President Donald Trump, who wants to allow seabed mining in international waters despite concerns over how little is understood about life at these depths. But it would also carry weight ahead of a closely watched meeting in July of the International Seabed Authority, which is haggling over global rules to govern the nascent deep-sea mining sector. - Actions not words - At the summit's close, nations will adopt a pre-agreed political statement that recognises the crisis facing oceans, and the global need to better protect them. Critics slammed the language in the eight-page document as weak or -- in the case of fossil fuels -- missing altogether, but others cautioned against reading into it too much. "The end declaration from here isn't really the only output. It's much more important, actually, what governments commit to, and what they come here to say on an individual basis," said Peter Haugan, policy director at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway. - Money matters - The conference is not a COP summit or a UN treaty negotiation, and any decisions made between June 9 and 13 in Nice are voluntary and not legally binding. But countries will still be expected to put money on the table in Nice to plug a massive shortfall in funding for ocean conservation, said Pauli Merriman at WWF International. "What we lack -- what we still lack -- is the ambition, the financing and the delivery needed to close the gap," she told reporters. "It's not enough for governments to show up to Nice with good intentions." np/klm/js
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Money, mining and marine parks: The big issues at UN ocean summit
France is hosting world leaders this week to confront what the United Nations calls a global "emergency" in the oceans -- but what is expected, and can the summit make a difference? There is pressure on the UN Ocean Conference starting Monday in Nice to show that countries can unite and deliver more than just talk for the world's ailing and neglected seas. - Plundered parks - Several countries are expected to announce the creation of new marine conservation zones within their national waters, though how protected they really are will come under scrutiny. Some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden or permitted in marine zones. France and other EU states, for example, allow bottom trawling, a damaging fishing practice, in protected waters. This means just three percent of oceans are considered truly safe from exploitation, far short of a global target to place 30 percent under conservation by 2030. - High seas - Key to achieving this goal is enacting the high seas treaty, a landmark global pact signed in 2023 to protect marine life in the vast open waters beyond national control. France had pinned success at Nice on delivering the 60 ratifications necessary to bring the treaty into force, saying the conference would be a failure without it. But it could not get the required number, drumming up roughly half ahead of the summit. Those outstanding will be pushed to explain when they intend to do so. - Uncharted waters - France will be leading diplomatic efforts in Nice to rope more countries into supporting a moratorium on deep-sea mining, a contentious practice opposed by 33 nations so far. Bolstering those numbers would send a rebuke to US President Donald Trump, who wants to allow seabed mining in international waters despite concerns over how little is understood about life at these depths. But it would also carry weight ahead of a closely watched meeting in July of the International Seabed Authority, which is haggling over global rules to govern the nascent deep-sea mining sector. - Actions not words - At the summit's close, nations will adopt a pre-agreed political statement that recognises the crisis facing oceans, and the global need to better protect them. Critics slammed the language in the eight-page document as weak or -- in the case of fossil fuels -- missing altogether, but others cautioned against reading into it too much. "The end declaration from here isn't really the only output. It's much more important, actually, what governments commit to, and what they come here to say on an individual basis," said Peter Haugan, policy director at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway. - Money matters - The conference is not a COP summit or a UN treaty negotiation, and any decisions made between June 9 and 13 in Nice are voluntary and not legally binding. But countries will still be expected to put money on the table in Nice to plug a massive shortfall in funding for ocean conservation, said Pauli Merriman at WWF International. "What we lack -- what we still lack -- is the ambition, the financing and the delivery needed to close the gap," she told reporters. "It's not enough for governments to show up to Nice with good intentions." np/klm/js
