HSA Member Activities

Half the Planet at Stake as High Seas Negotiations Begin

17 April, 2018

Source: NRDC
Author: Lauren Kubiak

The ocean is crucial for life on earth, yet much of it lacks comprehensive environmental safeguards. Providing oxygen we breathe, food we eat, and performing important roles in planetary systems like moderating our climate, a lot is at stake when we risk the health of the ocean. Hearteningly, governments began formal negotiations this week to develop a treaty that will protect the high seas: an area the size of nearly half the planet.Over the next several years, governments at the United Nations (UN) have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put in place environmental safeguards for the high seas, which make up two-thirds of the world’s ocean. This week’s meeting marks the beginning of the intergovernmental conference to negotiate an international legally-binding treaty.

Continue reading Half the Planet at Stake as High Seas Negotiations Begin

Towards a Global Solution for High Seas Conservation

15 May, 2017

Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts
Author: Liz Karen

Protecting marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction

In June 2015, world leaders made the extraordinary decision to develop an international agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, including the high seas. These areas make up two-thirds of the world’s ocean but are managed by a patchwork of bodies that regulate fishing, mining, shipping, and other activities for specific areas of the ocean. These bodies lack the legal mandate to establish comprehensive marine protected areas and marine reserves, or other conservation policies to protect biodiversity throughout an ecosystem. The new treaty could help to close these gaps in global ocean governance and deliver much-needed protection to the world’s ocean. However, the success of the agreement will be determined by negotiations continuing through 2017 at the United Nations Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meetings, which will set the stage for a formal treaty.

Continue reading Towards a Global Solution for High Seas Conservation

Without the Oceans, You Wouldn’t Exist

31 March, 2017

Source: Greenpeace
By Frida Bengtsson

All life on Earth comes from the oceans… and they’re still looking after us today.The oceans have protected us from the worst impacts of global warming. Our oceans have trapped 90% of the extra heat caused by greenhouse gas emissions over the last sixty years. 20,000 years ago the world was just over 4°C colder on average than today, and a large part of North America was buried kilometres-deep in ice. Without the oceans absorbing the man-made heat of the past half century, we would have seen the Earth warm by an average of 36°C. Even disaster movies haven’t considered anything this devastating.

Continue reading Without the Oceans, You Wouldn’t Exist

3 Big Reasons Why We Need Ocean Sanctuaries Now

30 August, 2016

Source: Greenpeace
Author: Magnus Eckeskog

Last Friday, US President Obama announced the creation of the world’s largest ocean sanctuary, and today governments from all over the world are meeting at the United Nations in New York to develop a new treaty to save our oceans. This is fantastic news for our blue planet. Two-thirds of the ocean sit outside national borders, called the ‘high seas’. In this area there is a lack of rules governing how it is protected, and as a result our oceans are suffering. Luckily, our governments are now about to change this situation meaning we could be on the verge of a massive step towards reviving our oceans.I am one of the lucky attendees at this UN meeting, along with colleagues and representatives from other NGOs and governments. Together we are fighting for ocean sanctuaries, large marine areas where fish, sharks, turtles and other marine life are allowed to be left in peace.

Continue reading 3 Big Reasons Why We Need Ocean Sanctuaries Now

Global Marine Protected Areas Partner Summit

16 December, 2015

The first Global Marine Protected Areas Partner Summit was held in Redlands, California November 2-3. The meeting was convened by Marine Conservation Institute (a High Seas Alliance member organization) and hosted by Esri, the world’s leading vendor of geographic information systems, to bring together marine conservation organizations and prominent scientists, including Dr. Sylvia Earle, to explore opportunities for collaboration and new tools for enhancing marine protected area efforts around the world.

Continue reading Global Marine Protected Areas Partner Summit

One Step Closer to Conserving High Seas Biodiversity

30 January, 2015

Source: PEW Charitable Trusts

U.N. will begin negotiating new treaty to protect marine life beyond national jurisdiction.

It took a decade of deliberation, many hours of talks, and one late night huddled in a basement meeting room at the United Nations in New York, but in the early morning of Jan. 24, members of a working group set up to make recommendations to the U.N. General Assembly reached a consensus. They agreed to begin negotiating the first treaty that specifically addresses protection of marine life in an area that covers nearly half of the planet—those ocean waters beyond national jurisdiction.

Continue reading One Step Closer to Conserving High Seas Biodiversity

Major Breakthrough for Ocean Lovers: UN Takes Landmark Step Towards High Seas Biodiversity Agreement

28 January, 2015

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.

Continue reading Major Breakthrough for Ocean Lovers: UN Takes Landmark Step Towards High Seas Biodiversity Agreement

At Last Some Good News for the High Seas: Progress Towards a Legally-Binding Treaty to Safeguard the Ocean Beyond National Boundaries

28 January, 2015

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.

Continue reading At Last Some Good News for the High Seas: Progress Towards a Legally-Binding Treaty to Safeguard the Ocean Beyond National Boundaries

Pew Charitable Trusts and Global Ocean Commission Host SIDS Side Event

24 September, 2014

At the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), on September 3rd, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Global Ocean Commission (GOC) jointly hosted a side event, SIDS and Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, about the implications for SIDS of the proposed UNCLOS Implementing Agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Panelists included GOC Commissioner Robert Hill, of the Global Ocean Commission, H.E. Ms. Inga Rhonda King, Permanent Representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations, Tevita Suka Mangisi, Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN of the Kingdom of Tonga, and Duncan Currie of the High Seas Alliance.  The session was opened by Remi Parmentier, GOC Deputy Executive Secretary and moderated by Joan Yang of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Continue reading Pew Charitable Trusts and Global Ocean Commission Host SIDS Side Event