Key figures
- The High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) entered into force on 17 January 2026
- International waters cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and about half the planet’s surface
- More than 80 parties had ratified by early 2026
- First Conference of the Parties due before 17 January 2027
Beyond 200 nautical miles from any coastline lie the high seas: waters that belong to no country. They cover nearly two-thirds of the world’s ocean, about half of the planet’s surface and some 95% of the ocean’s volume, making them the largest habitat on Earth. They are home to migrating whales, sea turtles, tuna and sharks, to deep-sea corals and to strange ecosystems around hydrothermal vents that scientists are only beginning to understand.
For most of history, these waters were governed by a patchwork of regional and sectoral rules — for fishing, shipping or seabed mining — that left much of their biodiversity unprotected. There was no global mechanism to create marine protected areas in international waters or to assess the environmental impact of new activities there. That changed on January 17, 2026, when the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, better known as the High Seas Treaty, came into force.
A long road
The treaty took nearly two decades to negotiate. Talks began informally in the mid-2000s, formal negotiations opened in 2018, and the final text was agreed in New York in March 2023 after a marathon session. It was formally adopted in June 2023. The agreement needed 60 ratifications to take effect, a threshold it reached on September 19, 2025, triggering a 120-day countdown. By the time it entered into force, more than 80 parties — including the European Union and many of its member states — had ratified, and some 145 countries had signed. Negotiators have described it as a rare triumph of multilateral cooperation at a time when international agreements are increasingly difficult to reach.
The challenge: an ocean under pressure
The treaty arrives at a critical moment. The ocean is under pressure from several directions at once. It absorbs most of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases: ocean heat content reached another record in 2025, and around 90% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave during the year. These heatwaves have caused mass die-offs of seabirds, fish and kelp forests and the worst coral bleaching ever recorded.
The ocean is also becoming more acidic as it absorbs carbon dioxide, which makes it harder for shellfish, corals and some plankton to build their shells and skeletons. Overfishing continues to deplete many fish stocks, with industrial fleets able to fish in the remotest parts of the ocean. Shipping noise disturbs whales that rely on sound to communicate. Plastic pollution reaches even the deepest trenches. And the possibility of deep-sea mining for metals used in batteries has raised fears about damage to ecosystems that recover extremely slowly, if at all.
On the high seas, these threats have been particularly hard to address because no single authority had the power to protect entire ecosystems. The global biodiversity commitment adopted in Montreal in December 2022 — to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030, known as ’30×30′ — was widely seen as impossible to meet without a tool for international waters. Today, only a small share of the high seas enjoys any form of protection.
What the treaty does
The High Seas Treaty provides that tool through four main pillars. First, it allows countries to propose and establish marine protected areas on the high seas, including highly protected zones where activities such as fishing are restricted. Decisions can be taken by a vote if consensus cannot be reached, so a single country cannot block protection.
Second, it requires environmental impact assessments for planned activities in international waters that could cause significant harm to marine life. Third, it sets rules for the fair sharing of benefits from ‘marine genetic resources’ — genetic material from ocean organisms that can be used to develop medicines, cosmetics and industrial products — ensuring that developing countries share in any gains. Fourth, it supports developing countries through capacity building and the transfer of marine technology, so that all nations can participate in ocean science and governance.
The treaty works alongside existing bodies, such as regional fisheries organisations and the International Maritime Organization, rather than replacing them — a balance that will require careful coordination.
What comes next
The first Conference of the Parties must be held within a year of entry into force, before January 17, 2027. There, governments will decide how the treaty’s institutions will function, including its scientific and technical body, its financing mechanism and the location of its secretariat; Chile and Belgium have expressed interest in hosting it. A preparatory commission has been meeting at UN headquarters in New York to draft recommendations.
Conservation organisations and scientists are already identifying candidate sites for the first high-seas marine protected areas. They include underwater mountain ranges known as seamounts, which host rare corals and sponges and attract feeding fish; ocean ridges; and areas such as the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic, a floating forest of seaweed that serves as a nursery for eels and turtles. Proposals will need solid scientific evidence and broad support.
Enforcement will be a major test. Protecting remote waters thousands of kilometres from shore was once almost impossible. Today, technology helps: satellite tracking of fishing vessels, cheaper satellite imagery, radar that can detect ships that switch off their tracking devices, and artificial-intelligence tools that analyse vessel behaviour make monitoring the high seas far more feasible than a decade ago.
Wider ratification is the other priority. Several major ocean and fishing nations have not yet ratified the agreement. For the treaty to be truly global, and for its protected areas to be respected, broad participation is essential.
What you can do
Citizens can encourage their governments to ratify and implement the treaty, choose seafood certified as sustainably caught, reduce plastic use and support ocean research and conservation organisations. In Canada, which has long advocated for ocean protection, public support can help ensure the country plays a leading role in the first rounds of high-seas protection.
The High Seas Treaty shows that international cooperation can still deliver results. Whether it makes a real difference to whales, corals and fish will depend on how quickly and ambitiously governments use it.
Sources
UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (February 2026); IDDRI (March 2026); European Commission DG MARE (January 2026); World Resources Institute (January 2026); UN Foundation (January 2026); WMO State of the Global Climate 2025.
Key figures
- The High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) entered into force on 17 January 2026
- International waters cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and about half the planet’s surface
- More than 80 parties had ratified by early 2026
- First Conference of the Parties due before 17 January 2027
Beyond 200 nautical miles from any coastline lie the high seas: waters that belong to no country. They cover nearly two-thirds of the world’s ocean, about half of the planet’s surface and some 95% of the ocean’s volume, making them the largest habitat on Earth. They are home to migrating whales, sea turtles, tuna and sharks, to deep-sea corals and to strange ecosystems around hydrothermal vents that scientists are only beginning to understand.
For most of history, these waters were governed by a patchwork of regional and sectoral rules — for fishing, shipping or seabed mining — that left much of their biodiversity unprotected. There was no global mechanism to create marine protected areas in international waters or to assess the environmental impact of new activities there. That changed on January 17, 2026, when the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, better known as the High Seas Treaty, came into force.
A long road
The treaty took nearly two decades to negotiate. Talks began informally in the mid-2000s, formal negotiations opened in 2018, and the final text was agreed in New York in March 2023 after a marathon session. It was formally adopted in June 2023. The agreement needed 60 ratifications to take effect, a threshold it reached on September 19, 2025, triggering a 120-day countdown. By the time it entered into force, more than 80 parties — including the European Union and many of its member states — had ratified, and some 145 countries had signed. Negotiators have described it as a rare triumph of multilateral cooperation at a time when international agreements are increasingly difficult to reach.
The challenge: an ocean under pressure
The treaty arrives at a critical moment. The ocean is under pressure from several directions at once. It absorbs most of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases: ocean heat content reached another record in 2025, and around 90% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave during the year. These heatwaves have caused mass die-offs of seabirds, fish and kelp forests and the worst coral bleaching ever recorded.
The ocean is also becoming more acidic as it absorbs carbon dioxide, which makes it harder for shellfish, corals and some plankton to build their shells and skeletons. Overfishing continues to deplete many fish stocks, with industrial fleets able to fish in the remotest parts of the ocean. Shipping noise disturbs whales that rely on sound to communicate. Plastic pollution reaches even the deepest trenches. And the possibility of deep-sea mining for metals used in batteries has raised fears about damage to ecosystems that recover extremely slowly, if at all.
On the high seas, these threats have been particularly hard to address because no single authority had the power to protect entire ecosystems. The global biodiversity commitment adopted in Montreal in December 2022 — to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030, known as ’30×30′ — was widely seen as impossible to meet without a tool for international waters. Today, only a small share of the high seas enjoys any form of protection.
What the treaty does
The High Seas Treaty provides that tool through four main pillars. First, it allows countries to propose and establish marine protected areas on the high seas, including highly protected zones where activities such as fishing are restricted. Decisions can be taken by a vote if consensus cannot be reached, so a single country cannot block protection.
Second, it requires environmental impact assessments for planned activities in international waters that could cause significant harm to marine life. Third, it sets rules for the fair sharing of benefits from ‘marine genetic resources’ — genetic material from ocean organisms that can be used to develop medicines, cosmetics and industrial products — ensuring that developing countries share in any gains. Fourth, it supports developing countries through capacity building and the transfer of marine technology, so that all nations can participate in ocean science and governance.
The treaty works alongside existing bodies, such as regional fisheries organisations and the International Maritime Organization, rather than replacing them — a balance that will require careful coordination.
What comes next
The first Conference of the Parties must be held within a year of entry into force, before January 17, 2027. There, governments will decide how the treaty’s institutions will function, including its scientific and technical body, its financing mechanism and the location of its secretariat; Chile and Belgium have expressed interest in hosting it. A preparatory commission has been meeting at UN headquarters in New York to draft recommendations.
Conservation organisations and scientists are already identifying candidate sites for the first high-seas marine protected areas. They include underwater mountain ranges known as seamounts, which host rare corals and sponges and attract feeding fish; ocean ridges; and areas such as the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic, a floating forest of seaweed that serves as a nursery for eels and turtles. Proposals will need solid scientific evidence and broad support.
Enforcement will be a major test. Protecting remote waters thousands of kilometres from shore was once almost impossible. Today, technology helps: satellite tracking of fishing vessels, cheaper satellite imagery, radar that can detect ships that switch off their tracking devices, and artificial-intelligence tools that analyse vessel behaviour make monitoring the high seas far more feasible than a decade ago.
Wider ratification is the other priority. Several major ocean and fishing nations have not yet ratified the agreement. For the treaty to be truly global, and for its protected areas to be respected, broad participation is essential.
What you can do
Citizens can encourage their governments to ratify and implement the treaty, choose seafood certified as sustainably caught, reduce plastic use and support ocean research and conservation organisations. In Canada, which has long advocated for ocean protection, public support can help ensure the country plays a leading role in the first rounds of high-seas protection.
The High Seas Treaty shows that international cooperation can still deliver results. Whether it makes a real difference to whales, corals and fish will depend on how quickly and ambitiously governments use it.
Sources
UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (February 2026); IDDRI (March 2026); European Commission DG MARE (January 2026); World Resources Institute (January 2026); UN Foundation (January 2026); WMO State of the Global Climate 2025.
Key figures
- The High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement) entered into force on 17 January 2026
- International waters cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean and about half the planet’s surface
- More than 80 parties had ratified by early 2026
- First Conference of the Parties due before 17 January 2027
Beyond 200 nautical miles from any coastline lie the high seas: waters that belong to no country. They cover nearly two-thirds of the world’s ocean, about half of the planet’s surface and some 95% of the ocean’s volume, making them the largest habitat on Earth. They are home to migrating whales, sea turtles, tuna and sharks, to deep-sea corals and to strange ecosystems around hydrothermal vents that scientists are only beginning to understand.
For most of history, these waters were governed by a patchwork of regional and sectoral rules — for fishing, shipping or seabed mining — that left much of their biodiversity unprotected. There was no global mechanism to create marine protected areas in international waters or to assess the environmental impact of new activities there. That changed on January 17, 2026, when the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, better known as the High Seas Treaty, came into force.
A long road
The treaty took nearly two decades to negotiate. Talks began informally in the mid-2000s, formal negotiations opened in 2018, and the final text was agreed in New York in March 2023 after a marathon session. It was formally adopted in June 2023. The agreement needed 60 ratifications to take effect, a threshold it reached on September 19, 2025, triggering a 120-day countdown. By the time it entered into force, more than 80 parties — including the European Union and many of its member states — had ratified, and some 145 countries had signed. Negotiators have described it as a rare triumph of multilateral cooperation at a time when international agreements are increasingly difficult to reach.
The challenge: an ocean under pressure
The treaty arrives at a critical moment. The ocean is under pressure from several directions at once. It absorbs most of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases: ocean heat content reached another record in 2025, and around 90% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave during the year. These heatwaves have caused mass die-offs of seabirds, fish and kelp forests and the worst coral bleaching ever recorded.
The ocean is also becoming more acidic as it absorbs carbon dioxide, which makes it harder for shellfish, corals and some plankton to build their shells and skeletons. Overfishing continues to deplete many fish stocks, with industrial fleets able to fish in the remotest parts of the ocean. Shipping noise disturbs whales that rely on sound to communicate. Plastic pollution reaches even the deepest trenches. And the possibility of deep-sea mining for metals used in batteries has raised fears about damage to ecosystems that recover extremely slowly, if at all.
On the high seas, these threats have been particularly hard to address because no single authority had the power to protect entire ecosystems. The global biodiversity commitment adopted in Montreal in December 2022 — to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030, known as ’30×30′ — was widely seen as impossible to meet without a tool for international waters. Today, only a small share of the high seas enjoys any form of protection.
What the treaty does
The High Seas Treaty provides that tool through four main pillars. First, it allows countries to propose and establish marine protected areas on the high seas, including highly protected zones where activities such as fishing are restricted. Decisions can be taken by a vote if consensus cannot be reached, so a single country cannot block protection.
Second, it requires environmental impact assessments for planned activities in international waters that could cause significant harm to marine life. Third, it sets rules for the fair sharing of benefits from ‘marine genetic resources’ — genetic material from ocean organisms that can be used to develop medicines, cosmetics and industrial products — ensuring that developing countries share in any gains. Fourth, it supports developing countries through capacity building and the transfer of marine technology, so that all nations can participate in ocean science and governance.
The treaty works alongside existing bodies, such as regional fisheries organisations and the International Maritime Organization, rather than replacing them — a balance that will require careful coordination.
What comes next
The first Conference of the Parties must be held within a year of entry into force, before January 17, 2027. There, governments will decide how the treaty’s institutions will function, including its scientific and technical body, its financing mechanism and the location of its secretariat; Chile and Belgium have expressed interest in hosting it. A preparatory commission has been meeting at UN headquarters in New York to draft recommendations.
Conservation organisations and scientists are already identifying candidate sites for the first high-seas marine protected areas. They include underwater mountain ranges known as seamounts, which host rare corals and sponges and attract feeding fish; ocean ridges; and areas such as the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic, a floating forest of seaweed that serves as a nursery for eels and turtles. Proposals will need solid scientific evidence and broad support.
Enforcement will be a major test. Protecting remote waters thousands of kilometres from shore was once almost impossible. Today, technology helps: satellite tracking of fishing vessels, cheaper satellite imagery, radar that can detect ships that switch off their tracking devices, and artificial-intelligence tools that analyse vessel behaviour make monitoring the high seas far more feasible than a decade ago.
Wider ratification is the other priority. Several major ocean and fishing nations have not yet ratified the agreement. For the treaty to be truly global, and for its protected areas to be respected, broad participation is essential.
What you can do
Citizens can encourage their governments to ratify and implement the treaty, choose seafood certified as sustainably caught, reduce plastic use and support ocean research and conservation organisations. In Canada, which has long advocated for ocean protection, public support can help ensure the country plays a leading role in the first rounds of high-seas protection.
The High Seas Treaty shows that international cooperation can still deliver results. Whether it makes a real difference to whales, corals and fish will depend on how quickly and ambitiously governments use it.
Sources
UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (February 2026); IDDRI (March 2026); European Commission DG MARE (January 2026); World Resources Institute (January 2026); UN Foundation (January 2026); WMO State of the Global Climate 2025.
