Following the failure of the fifth session of negotiations for the treaty for the protection of the high seas, Renaissance MEP Catherine Chabaud is sounding the alarm. Many geopolitical considerations seem to be holding back the adoption of the treaty, which may never see the light of day.
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“It’s a lot of disappointment”, recognizes this Saturday on franceinfo the Renaissance MEP Catherine Chabaud. After two weeks of negotiations, the fifth round of negotiations for the High Seas Protection Treaty has once again failed to reach an agreement between UN member states. “If it is not adopted before the end of the year, it will probably be buried for good”, worries the navigator.
franceinfo: What was your first reaction after this new failure?
Catherine Chabaud : This is a lot of disappointment. We have been trying to make progress on this protection of biodiversity in the high seas, that is to say beyond the excluded economic zones, for 20 years. It represents 64% of the surface of the planet. Despite everything, we have still made a lot of progress. The feedback I have from negotiators in New York speaks of major progress. The European Union and France notably said to each other that we had to reach a conclusion on the subject before the end of 2022. We were not able to reach a conclusion last night, probably for geopolitical reasons.
What points have stumbled?
In the negotiation to preserve biodiversity, there are four axes. First, the creation of marine protected areas. Next, the subject of energy resources. And as we get to know the ocean a little better, we discover great molecules with which we will manufacture drugs or cosmetics, the third and fourth axes are technology transfer and profit sharing. How will States, which do not have the capacity to exploit these resources when there is only one ocean for all of humanity, be able to benefit from them? It stumbled on this subject.
Is it still a battle between the developed countries of the North and those of the South?
Of course. And after this subject on biodiversity, we will have a treaty on the exploitation of the seabed next year, the mining code. There too, the countries of the South are under pressure from China, Russia and perhaps even European countries. There may still be an opportunity between now and the end of the year since China will have to put something on the table for the oceans. In September, there will be the United Nations General Assembly. Politics must take hold of this subject because these are absolutely colossal geopolitical issues. If this treaty is not adopted before the end of the year, it will probably be definitively buried and other geopolitical events could take over.