Source: Greenpeace
Author: Sofia Tsenikli
It is time for Ocean Lovers worldwide to celebrate! After years of political foot-dragging, and four hectic days of negotiations at the United Nations, a breakthrough came in the wee hours of Saturday morning, 24 January: governments around the world agreed to develop a legally-binding treaty to protect marine life beyond national territorial waters.
Source: IUCN
In the early hours of a snowy Saturday morning in New York, United Nations delegates took a historic step towards safeguarding the global ocean commons. Government representatives at a UN meeting agreed to launch a formal preparatory process for a global and legally-binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.
Countries have agreed to start formal negotiations on a new “legally binding instrument” for the high seas. The Global Ocean Commission welcomes the decision on 24 January by the United Nations Informal Working Group on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) to begin negotiations for a new international agreement for the sustainable use and conservation of marine biodiversity in the high seas
Source: WWF
Author: Jessica Battle
After four days and a hard night of negotiations, governments meeting at the UN last week took a historic step toward ending the centuries-long free for all on the high seas.
We have the green light to negotiate the first major UN treaty for 30 years, and we can now look to a future in which we bring conservation for the benefit of all to these vital global commons.
New York, 24 January 2015: States took a major step toward urgently needed ocean protection at the UN today agreeing to develop a legally binding agreement to conserve marine life in the high seas.
Continue reading Meeting Closes With A Major Step For The Ocean
On the final morning of a UN Meeting striving to achieve historic protection for the high seas, environmental organizations applauded the vast majority of States working hard to bring about a positive outcome.
Continue reading States Battle It Out Over Historic Agreement
Governments take it to the wire as third UN meeting on fate of the high seas gets ready to begin in New York.
World governments will meet this week, tasked with fulfilling the RIO+20 commitment to take a decision on whether to begin negotiations to launch a new agreement that would help protect ungoverned areas of the ocean – those beyond national jurisdiction (known as the BBNJ meeting).
Continue reading High Time for the High Seas at the United Nations
Over the past two months, High Seas Alliance members have been actively engaged in a number of regional workshops to discuss a new implementing agreement (IA) under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (BBNJ). Over the course of these two-day workshops, governments heard presentations from regional and international experts and discussed the need for this implementing agreement, the UN General Assembly Working Group process concerning this issue, and components of the “package” including area-based management tools including marine protected areas, marine genetic resources including access and a benefit sharing regime, environmental impacts assessments, and capacity- building and the transfer of marine technology. Most recently, these workshops have taken place in:
Continue reading HSA Members Host Series of Regional BBNJ Workshops
Between the 12 – 19 November 2014, over 6000 people from 170 countries came together in Sydney, Australia, for the World Parks Congress; a landmark global forum on protected areas held every ten years. As the world’s most influential gathering of people involved in protected area management, it sets the global agenda for the following decade.
Continue reading IUCN’s World Parks Congress: Report from Sydney
From Nov. 2-9, High Seas Alliance members participated in the Blue Ocean Film Festival held in St. Petersburg, Florida. The prestigious festival is one of the biggest environmental documentary film events in the world, with projects from the likes of 60 Minutes, National Geographic, the Smithsonian Channel and Telemundo. The seven-day event drew about 20,000 people. High Seas Alliance team members, Mirella von Lindenfels and Nicholas Steel met with the ocean community at the festival in St Petersburg Florida to build a “wave of change” for the high seas, raising awareness for the urgent need for stronger high seas protection.
Continue reading Building a wave of change at the Blue Ocean Film Festival
