Views
A treaty named High Seas Treaty framed with the intention of preserving marine biodiversity / ocean life by encouraging research-capacity building among different nations of the planet.
It did not happened in a single night.It took years of debates and discussions and finally countries accepted High seas Treaty to protect marine biodiversity / ocean life and provide an oversight of international waters. The treaty is getting tremendous support , mostly from researchers . According to researchers, it is an important step for conservation that promotes an international research collaboration without hindering the world of science.
"We're thrilled," said Kristina Gjerde, a researcher ,who studies marine environmental law at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. "This long-awaited treaty contains many of the critical elements we need to protect our oceans / ocean life."
The delegates of United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) finally framed the agreement after a long meeting of two weeks in the New York City. The final session of the meeting lasted for 38 hours. A chemist and marine bioprospector Marcel Jaspars ,at the University of Aberdeen, UK, who also participated in the event as an adviser to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said that “It was a long meeting,it was like madness. The delegates of the meeting were so tired.”
Also Visit: Cancer Epidemic to hit Europe: 1 million cases missed during Covid_19.
we know that countries have the right over waters only upto 200 nautical miles which are measured from the shores. 200 nautical miles if expressed in terms of kilometers, it nearly equals to 370 kilometers. After such a long distance there are high seas and they make up approximately two-thirds of the planet's ocean area or we can say that 70% or more than of Earth's surface. Let us clear you that some activities in these waters are carried out through mechanisms such as United Nations Conventions on Law of the Sea. Activities like, Shipping , seabed mining, whaling etc. But overall no strict rules were framed for the protection of biodiversity / ocean life in these high seas.
Also Visit: Reports claim East Antarctic Glacier is melting at 70.8 billion tons per year due to warmer waters.
It has long been recognized that a treaty is needed to fill these gaps, given the great importance of the high seas to marine life / ocean life and the global climate; The idea was first planned 20 years ago. In 2017, the United Nations decided to formally convene an intergovernmental conference to develop a treaty, but delegates met without reaching their goals in the following years. Although the nations finally succeeded on March 4, they ran out of time to formally ratify the treaty. At a special BBNJ session in the near future things will become clear and the treaty will take it's final shape.
Post a Comment