Global Ocean Treaty Debates: Balancing Protection, Access, and Profit

For more than fifteen years, the world has pursued a major global agreement to safeguard the oceans. Yet until now, achieving a single, unanimous commitment on a resource that belongs to everyone and to no one has remained elusive. This week, United Nations members gather to revisit the debate with a clear aim: sign a lasting pact that would stand as the first comprehensive ocean agreement on par with the Paris Agreement for the seas. The last three efforts to close this pact have fallen short, and concerns persist about competing interests that could derail progress and trigger a rush for offshore resources.

These are the keys to understanding the negotiations around the global ocean treaty and the main obstacles it faces that have slowed a final signing so far.

ocean protection

The effort to shield the oceans has been on the global agenda for decades. In 1982 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea declared the seabed and ocean floor as a heritage of humanity, launching the first major push to protect these ecosystems. In 2018 negotiations began to craft the first global ocean agreement. The goal was to reach a final pact by 2020, but the covid-19 pandemic and intense state-level disagreements delayed the process. Today the 168 United Nations members are set to meet from February 27 to March 3 to restart the discussion.

UN discusses how to protect world’s oceans verified

offshore law

The bulk of current debates preventing a treaty center on how to regulate human activity in the high seas, areas outside any national jurisdiction. More than two thirds of the oceans, about 11 million square kilometers, fall into this category. Since no country can enforce its laws on these waters, international cooperation mechanisms are the only viable path to govern their use. Experts and organizations advocate a strong, ambitious and binding agreement that aims to protect 30 percent of the oceans by 2030.

protected areas

Conserving marine spaces remains uneven, with roughly only 10 percent of the world’s marine areas protected. Most protections are along coastlines, and in the high seas just 1.4 percent enjoys protection. At the December 2022 Montreal summit, a global commitment emerged to protect 30 percent of the planet by 2030, extending into marine environments. Expanding protected areas involves drawing a new global map of marine reserves and imposing restrictions on activities such as fishing, vessel traffic, and resource extraction. Not every nation supports these restrictions.

genetic resources

Negotiation deadlocks often arise from the issue of genetic resources. Off the coast, exploration yields new species, microorganisms, and compounds used in cosmetics, medicines, and other industries. Some discoveries contribute to major treatments, such as early covid-19 therapies born from oceanic organisms. The central questions are who owns these resources and who profits from their exploitation. Ownership and benefit sharing remain unresolved, complicating the path to an agreement.

A sperm whale in the sea PINE

The Oceans Treaty is set to address this topic, currently in a jurisdictional gray zone. Some nations want to ensure profits from such discoveries stay with the countries supporting exploration, while others advocate for a broader distribution. The final pact is expected to tackle who profits and how, but the form of that solution remains uncertain.

environmental considerations

Another major point is protecting marine ecosystems from climate-related impacts. Estimates suggest more than 45,000 marine species face extinction due to pollution, rising temperatures, and ocean acidification caused by human activity. The treaty aims to establish a mechanism for evaluating environmental impact and to specify who conducts these studies, how they are done, and when, so steps can be taken to minimize harm from human activities in international waters.

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