International high seas biodiversity concerns to rise

Subject

High seas biodiversity.

Significance

The third session of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction took place in New York last month, making notable progress on the structure of a new international treaty on governance of the high seas. Divergences nevertheless remain on several long-debated core issues, such as the complexity of regulations required to designate new marine protected areas (MPAs), and the depth of obligations, including by the private sector, to share benefits from extracting living marine resources.

Impacts

• Common standards will be developed for collecting and sharing data on high seas fishing and other activities.
• High seas scientific research will face a new regulatory environment after the treaty enters into force.
• Flag states will face scrutiny over flags of convenience, hindering firms’ moves to shift ship registrations to less strict jurisdictions.