Officially entitled the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of the marine biological diversity of areas beyond the national jurisdictionit was adopted In June 2023 after years of negotiation, and was opened to the signing until September 20.
With only eight remaining ratifications before it can come into force, the momentum accelerates towards the implementation phase of the Treaty, which could start in 2026.
“Decisive and concerted ” urgent ‘action
By covering marine genetic resources, environmental impact assessments, management tools based on the region and the transfer of marine technology, the treaty is central to protect the ocean.
“” The need for decisive and concerted action has never been so urgent“Said the United Nations Legal Councilor Elinor Hammarskjöld, the delegates declared at the opening of the session.
From participation rules and financing to digital access and institutional accommodation, negotiators face complex compromises.
But the feeling of urgency, and the crowded rooms of the UN headquarters, suggested that the international community is close to the transformation of the text into reality.
Recalling the Ocean Conference of the UN 2025 held in Nice in June, co-organized by France and Costa Rica, Ms. Hammarskjöld said that she had reaffirmed the essential role of multilateralism in the treatment of pressures endangering marine ecosystems.
In addition, the 39 actions of the Treaty by the States of all regions undertaken at the Ocean Conference demonstrated the strong commitment of the international community to keep and use the ocean and its resources permanently.
Now, “with the real probability of the first conference of the parties to the agreement convening in 2026, we are at a critical time,” she said.
This urgency was taken up by the co-chair of the commission, Janine Coye-Felson, who said that “if the momentum is strengthened by the third conference of the United Nations Oceans, held in Nice in June this year, is supported, We can reasonably expect that the agreement can enter into force in the last part of 2025, or at the beginning of 2026 ”.
Aboriginal peoples as a rights holder
During the first debates of the session, the developing states of small islands (SIDS) put pressure for flexibility, in particular virtual participation and guaranteed representation in the COP office.
The representative of the federated states of micronesia, speaking in the name of the developing states of the Pacific, also argued the allocation of a seat to the development states of small islands.
In addition, he called for recognition of “distinct status of indigenous peoples under international law as rights holders, rather than just stakeholders”.
Financing and equity
Development states, represented by groups such as G77 and China, the African group, Caricom and Pacific Sids, have stressed that the financing of participation will not be optional, but an obligation under the treaty, and has called for a voluntary trustee to cover the full expenditure of the delegates of the least developed countries, states without linen – and SIDS – In states are the least developed.
‘Clearing house’
As the entry into force approaches, the delegates turned to operational problems. A proposed mechanism of the compensation house will serve as a central center of the treaty for the exchange of information.
“There may not be any more urgent work before us than this,” said the co-president of the Adam McCarthy commission during one of the meetings.
Given the current rate of ratification, “we may need a form of compensation mechanism in operation at the beginning of 2026,” he said, encouraging the delegates to work so that the group of informal experts is “operational” to start its work by September.
With 139 signatures and 52 ratifications already obtained, the treaty is within the reach of the 60 necessary for entry into force.
The rally will continue at the UN headquarters until August 29.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
