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The landmark Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty—better known as the High Seas Treaty—has officially crossed the threshold required for its entry into force, marking a historic step for global ocean protection.
During the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York, four nations—St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Morocco—formally submitted their ratification instruments, bringing the total number of ratifying states to 60. This number represents the minimum required for the treaty to take effect.
The agreement, adopted by the UN in June 2023 after nearly 20 years of negotiations, will become legally binding on January 17, 2026.
For the first time, the BBNJ treaty establishes a global framework to create large-scale marine protected areas in international waters—territories that cover nearly two-thirds of the world’s oceans but have remained largely unregulated. The lack of governance has fueled overfishing, pollution, and biodiversity loss in these critical ecosystems.
As the first legally binding international accord for the high seas, the treaty equips countries with the tools to halt marine degradation and paves the way toward achieving the widely endorsed goal of safeguarding 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. Currently, only about one percent of waters beyond national jurisdiction enjoy formal protection.
The legislation also closes a longstanding gap in international law by regulating the use of marine genetic resources (MGRs) found in global commons. Previously, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), such resources were considered unowned and vulnerable to unchecked exploitation.
Science journalist and author Dr. Olive Heffernan, reflecting on the significance of the treaty, emphasized that its greatest strength lies not in dividing genetic spoils but in its capacity to preserve fragile marine ecosystems. “Its greatest power, to my mind, lies in its ability to protect, as much as possible, the wonders of the high seas—those places far offshore, such as the White Shark Café, the Costa Rica Thermal Dome, the Gakkel Ridge and countless others,” she noted.
With its entry into force, the High Seas Treaty marks a turning point in global ocean governance, offering renewed hope for the protection of some of Earth’s most vital yet vulnerable ecosystems.
