The High Seas Alliance welcomes the prioritization of critical ocean action in a Communiqué released on 20 May 2023 by G7 leaders at the Annual Summit in Hiroshima, Japan. In particular, it applauds their calls for the rapid entry into force and implementation of the new High Seas Treaty, agreed by nations in March.
“The High Seas Treaty is a global environmental priority because it’s indispensable for success in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises. That’s why the G7 leaders’ commitment to support its rapid entry into force is critical. We now look to them to take genuine leadership in getting it ratified swiftly – and in encouraging other countries to do the same,” said Rebecca Hubbard, Director of the High Seas Alliance.
The High Seas Treaty provides the legal framework required to manage human activities in these vast ocean areas for the first time and is a critical tool to achieving the target to protect at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 (30×30), agreed under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, in December 2022.
UN Member States are due to formally adopt the Treaty in New York on 19 June, at which point individual countries will have to ratify it through their own domestic legal processes. The sixtieth country to do so will start a hundred-and-twenty-day countdown, after which the global agreement will become international law.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Patricia Roy email: patricia@communicationsinc.co.uk, Tel: +34 696 905 907.