India’s recent signing of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty, has sparked both optimism and skepticism among maritime observers. 

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Need for the Treaty

• Address high seas challenges: The treaty is essential to address critical challenges facing the high seas, including:
  • Rising Pollution: Escalating pollution from plastic waste, chemical runoff, and oil spills is severely damaging marine ecosystems.
  • Overfishing: Unsustainable fishing practices are depleting resources, threatening species, and disrupting ecological balance.
  • Marine Ecosystem Deterioration: Habitat destruction, climate change, and illegal resource extraction are accelerating the decline of ocean health.
• Ensure collective responsibility: The high seas are considered a global commons, where the principle “everyone’s responsibility is no one’s responsibility” prevails. 
• • This has led to unregulated exploitation and minimal accountability, necessitating an agreement to ensure collective responsibility.

Treaty Objectives

The BBNJ treaty is the third implementing agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It follows previous agreements on deep-sea mining and fisheries management. The treaty focuses on three core objectives:

• Conserving Marine Biodiversity: Protecting marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions, endangered species and fragile ecosystems are crucial for safeguarding the health of the world’s oceans. 
  • If these ecosystems are not conserved, the ecological balance could be disturbed, leading to far-reaching environmental consequences. 
  • Conservation efforts can be supported through the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs.
• Equitable Sharing of Marine Genetic Resources: Wealthier countries and companies often exploit these resources—such as marine organisms and their genetic materials—from the high seas to create products like medicines.
  • However, the benefits from such activities should also be shared with poorer and developing nations, who may lack the technological capacity to harness these resources themselves.  
• Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs): The treaty mandates Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for activities that may harm marine environments. 

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Challenges with the Treaty

• Slow Ratification Process: Despite the treaty being signed by 104 countries, only 14 nations have ratified it so far.
  • The treaty cannot come into force until it reaches the required threshold of 60 ratifications. 
• Overlapping Jurisdiction: Geopolitical rivalries and territorial disputes, such as in the South China Sea, complicate treaty implementation by hindering consensus on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). 
  • Coastal nations, especially in Southeast Asia and the Bay of Bengal, fear high-seas national parks may infringe on territorial rights or restrict economic activities like fishing and oil extraction.
• Asymmetry in Maritime Governance: Wealthier nations may exploit weak accountability by misreporting activities, while poorer nations face resource and technological constraints in implementing the treaty.
• Narrow Focus: By prioritizing the high seas, the treaty overlooks the interconnectedness of marine ecosystems. 
  • Harmful practices in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) like overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction often impact international waters, making this approach insufficient.
• Weak Enforcement: The treaty mandates Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) but excludes key threats like oil and gas exploration, undermining its effectiveness in protecting marine ecosystems.

Conclusion

States must recognize oceans as a shared global resource and work collectively to protect them. However, the success of the treaty depends on overcoming its weak enforcement mechanisms and geopolitical challenges. 

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