debated for years at the UN, will the Treaty on the High Seas finally see the light of day?

Last hours of negotiations in New York at the United Nations, Friday August 26. The international community must complete its discussions, which began on Monday August 22, on the establishment of a Treaty on the High Seas. This text, which has been debated for years, aims to protect international waters and regulate their exploitation.

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Representing 60% of the oceans, the high seas are not currently framed by any global text, unlike coastal zones in particular. However, it is a major challenge in terms of climate regulation or biodiversity. The text under discussion atUN would therefore be a first, by offering, for example, the possibility of creating marine areas where all exploitation would be drastically controlled.

“In particular, the institutions that come out of this treaty must have a free hand and not be dependent on regional organizations.”

François Chartier, Ocean Campaigner at Greenpeace

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And it is moreover on this point that the discussions are the most complex, according to François Chartier, in charge of the Ocean campaign in Greenpeace. According to him, “Ihe risk is that, in the search for consensus, certain important points will fall by the wayside and risk emptying the treaty of its ability to achieve its main objective, which is the conservation of the oceans.he warns. To take an example, it is the whole issue that will be disputed on the question of marine protected areas”.

François Chartier adds that he “It is necessary in particular that the institutions which come out of this treaty have a free hand and are not dependent on regional organizations and in particular regional fisheries organizations, which, they are in a logic of maintaining the status quo. VSthat is to say, above all, to defend the industry of Western countries”.

According to the international scientific community, to avoid an ecological catastrophe, it would be necessary to set up protected areas on 30% of the oceans by 2030. Today, they represent only about 1%. Greenpeace considers in particular that if the text is not finalized this year, it will be “impossible” to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, an objective defended by many States within the framework of other ongoing negotiations on global biodiversity.