INDIA TO RATIFY HIGH SEAS TREATY

TAG: GS 3: ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

THE CONTEXT: The Indian government has announced its decision to sign and ratify the High Seas Treaty, an international legal framework aimed at maintaining the ecological health of the oceans.

EXPLANATION:

• Negotiated over two decades, the treaty is crucial for reducing pollution, conserving marine biodiversity, and ensuring sustainable use of marine resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

What is the High Seas Treaty?

• In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), was adopted, which delineated rules to govern the oceans and the use of its resources.
• However, there was no comprehensive legal framework that covered the high seas.
• As climate change and global warming emerged as global concerns, a need was felt for an international legal framework to protect oceans and marine life.
• The UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) decided in 2015 to develop a legally binding instrument within the framework of UNCLOS.
• Subsequently, the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) was convened to frame a legal instrument on BBNJ.
• The High Seas Treaty, also known as the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions (BBNJ), is formally titled the Agreement on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.
• It aims to address the governance gap in international waters, which lie outside any country’s jurisdiction and thus are often subject to overexploitation and environmental degradation.
• India, along with many other nations, participated in nearly 20 years of negotiations leading to the finalization of the treaty in the previous year.
• The treaty has already been signed by 91 countries, with eight having ratified it.

Significance of the High Seas

• Definition of High Seas
  • High seas refer to ocean areas outside the national jurisdiction of any country.
  • Typically, national jurisdictions extend up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from a country’s coastline, known as Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
  • Beyond these EEZs lie the high seas, which constitute about 64%, or roughly two-thirds, of the total ocean area.
  • These areas are considered global commons, meaning they belong to no single nation and are accessible to all for navigation, overflight, economic activities, scientific research, and infrastructure development like undersea cables.
• Challenges in the High Seas
  • The high seas face numerous challenges due to their lack of specific governance:
    • Overexploitation: Resources are often extracted at unsustainable rates.
    • Biodiversity Loss: Marine life is threatened by human activities.
    • Pollution: Dumping of plastics and other pollutants, leading to ocean acidification.
    • Climate Change: Impacting marine ecosystems and species.
  • UN estimates indicate that about 17 million tonnes of plastics were dumped in the oceans in 2021, a figure expected to rise in the coming years.

Existing International Governance

• The 1982 UN Convention on Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS) provides a comprehensive framework for the use of seas and oceans, outlining nations’ rights and responsibilities.
• It covers sovereignty, passage rights, and economic usage but lacks specific mechanisms for achieving conservation and sustainable use of marine resources in the high seas.
• The High Seas Treaty complements UNCLOS by providing detailed guidelines and mechanisms for the conservation, sustainable use, and equitable benefit-sharing of marine resources beyond national jurisdictions.

Key Objectives of the High Seas Treaty

• Conservation and Protection of Marine Ecology
  • The treaty aims to establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), akin to national parks or wildlife reserves, where activities will be regulated to ensure conservation efforts.
  • Specific areas for MPAs have been identified, with more to be added.
• Equitable Sharing of Benefits
  • The treaty ensures that benefits derived from marine genetic resources, whether through scientific research or commercial exploitation, are shared fairly among all nations.
  • This includes recognizing the potential costs of accessing these resources but prohibits proprietary claims by any country.
• Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)
  • Mandatory EIAs must be conducted for any activity that could potentially damage marine ecosystems or conservation efforts.
  • These assessments need to be made public and apply even to activities within national jurisdictions if their impacts extend to the high seas.
• Capacity Building and Technology Transfer
  • The treaty emphasizes building capacities and transferring marine technologies to developing countries, enabling them to utilize ocean resources sustainably while contributing to their conservation.

Ratification Process

• The treaty will enter into force once it has been ratified by at least 60 countries.
• It will become international law 120 days after the 60th ratification.
• Ratification legally binds a country to the treaty’s provisions, unlike mere signing, which indicates agreement without legal obligation.
• Ratification processes vary by country; in nations with legislative bodies, it typically requires parliamentary approval, while in others, executive consent may suffice.
• A country can sign but not ratify a treaty, as seen with the United States and the Kyoto Protocol, where the Senate did not approve ratification, preventing the U.S. from being legally bound by the agreement.

UN Convention on Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS)

• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982.
• It lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world’s oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources.
• It enshrines the notion that all problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be addressed as a whole.
• The Convention was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
• The maritime zones recognized under international law include internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the continental shelf, the high seas, and the Area.
• The breadth of the territorial sea, contiguous zone, and EEZ (and in some cases the continental shelf) is measured from the baseline determined in accordance with customary international law as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.

SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/india-high-seas-treaty-9442536/