A Deep Dive into the New Era for Our Oceans: The Landmark Milestone of the High Seas Treaty
When Two-Thirds of the Planet’s Ocean Gets Legal Protection: What the High Seas Treaty’s 60-Country Ratification Really Means
“Historic Milestone — September 19, 2025
On this date, the world reached the 60-ratification threshold for the UN High Seas Treaty (BBNJ Agreement), unlocking its entry into force on January 17, 2026.
It marks the first time in history that the vast areas of ocean beyond any nation’s borders will have a legally binding global protection framework.”
Setting the Scene: Why the High Seas Mattered —and Why the Treaty Was So Hard to Get
For decades, more than two-thirds of the world’s oceans lay beyond the full reach of any single nation’s law-making authority. These “high seas” areas — officially known as “areas beyond national jurisdiction” (ABNJ) — cover the open ocean and the seabed outside any country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The absence of a unified legal framework meant that while many countries had commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to protect the marine environment, the patchwork of regional bodies, sectoral agreements (for fishing, shipping, seabed mining) and voluntary protections left big gaps.
A key driver for change was the mounting pressure on marine ecosystems from over-fishing, deep-sea mining prospects, climate change (ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation) and rising recognition that marine biodiversity in the high seas is critical both for nature and for humanity.
Negotiating a treaty to fill those gaps was hard:
The process spanned nearly two decades of discussion, with five formal inter-governmental negotiation sessions culminating in agreement in 2023.
Key issues included how to share benefits from marine genetic resources (e.g., deep-sea organisms useful in biotech/medicine), how to establish and manage marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters, how to do environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for high-seas activities, and how to ensure capacity and technology transfer to developing states.
Some of the hardest debates were over enforcement, over how strong the rules would be, and how to integrate with existing bodies (e.g., regional fisheries management organisations) without creating duplicate or contradictory governance.
So when the treaty — formally the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (often abbreviated BBNJ) — was adopted on 19 June 2023, it was a historic moment.
What Is the Treaty and What Does It Do?
The BBNJ Agreement is, in essence, the first global legally binding framework specifically dedicated to marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions.
Four “pillars” (or major elements) of the treaty:
Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs): It sets out rules for the collection, use, access and benefit-sharing of genetic material from organisms in the high seas/Deep seabed, which previously were largely unregulated.
Area-Based Management Tools including MPAs: The treaty enables and gives a process to establish Marine Protected Areas and other area-based management in the high seas — previously extremely difficult outside ad-hoc or regional agreements.
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Strategic Environmental Assessments: It requires that large-scale activities having more than minor or transitory effects on the high seas environment undergo assessment and that assessments account for transboundary impacts.
Capacity-Building, Technology Transfer, Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing: Recognising that many developing states lacked the resources to participate fully, the treaty commits to supporting capacity, technology transfer and inclusive implementation.
What happens now that 60 ratifications have been achieved?
With the required minimum of 60 instruments of ratification reached on September 19, 2025, the treaty enters into force 120 days after that 60th ratification.
Once in force, the treaty unlocks:
The formal mechanism for parties to submit proposals for high-seas MPAs.
A global Conference of the Parties (COP) to govern implementation, adopt rules, and coordinate.
A secretariat, a clearing-house mechanism, and institutional arrangements to operationalise the treaty.
The Milestone: Hitting 60 Ratifications & Why It Matters
Historic Date: September 19, 2025
On this date, the world officially reached the 60-ratification threshold, ensuring that the High Seas Treaty will enter into force on January 17, 2026 — a turning point in ocean governance history.
Why the 60 threshold is important
Achieving 60 ratifications is not just symbolic — it triggers the treaty’s entry into force, meaning the agreement becomes legally binding for its parties. Without crossing that threshold, the treaty remains an instrument ready but not operational.
What made this year the tipping point?
Diplomatic momentum was accelerated by the United Nations Ocean Conference in June 2025 in Nice, France, which acted as a rallying moment. At the conference, eighteen countries ratified the treaty in one wave.
The active leadership of the European Union, including financial pledges (e.g., ~€40 million via its Global Ocean Programme) to support ratification and implementation in developing countries.
A public and media push recognising that the time for “business as usual” in marine governance is over — environmental groups and governments emphasised the urgency of ocean action.
Growing recognition that other global targets (such as the “30×30” nature target — protecting 30% of oceans by 2030) cannot be met without proper legal tools in the high seas.
What the ratification milestone means
It turns the treaty from a negotiated text into a legal tool that countries are bound by.
Opens up the high seas to proactive conservation rather than reactive patchwork governance.
Enables states to coordinate to create MPAs, assess human impacts, share benefits of genetic resources, and build up capacity in less developed nations.
Marks a shift: the high seas are no longer the “wild west” of the oceans with only voluntary rules and fragmented institutions.
What the Treaty Will Allow Us To Do – And What It Won’t Magically Cure
Positive breakthroughs
Designate and manage large-scale MPAs in international waters, helping protect species that move through or rely on the high seas. For instance, existing MPAs such as the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (~1.5 million km²) show what’s possible.
Conduct environmental impact assessments of activities like seabed mining, deep-sea drilling or large-scale trawling that may affect the high seas biodiversity.
Share scientific data, marine technology and capacity-building to enable states with fewer resources to participate meaningfully in high seas governance.
Introduce benefit-sharing mechanisms for marine genetic resources: if a biotech firm uses a sponge from the high seas to develop a drug, the treaty provides a framework for equitable sharing of benefits.
But real-world challenges remain
The treaty does not magically enforce compliance on every ship, every trawl or mining operation. Some enforcement will depend on flag-states, regional bodies and cooperation.
Some MPAs already exist under older frameworks, but converting them to the new treaty standard, aligning jurisdictions, avoiding overlaps and ensuring monitoring is a complex institutional task.
Resource gaps: both financial resources and monitoring/technological capacity remain big constraints.
Countries still need to ratify and then implement domestic laws, allocate budgets, invest in satellites, surveillance, enforcement mechanisms.
Conflict with existing sectoral governance (e.g., fishing or shipping) may arise — how to harmonise regional fisheries management organisations with the new treaty’s area-based and environmental provisions.
Real-Life Examples: Where High Seas Protection Works — And Where It Struggles
Working Example
The Ross Sea MPA (Southern Ocean) is often cited: established in 2016 (about 1.5 million km²) as a large-scale, high seas area protection zone. That shows the value of scale and scientific backing.
Regional collaborations in the Northeast Atlantic: six MPAs established in 2010 (~286,200 km²) show that with political will and regional institutions you can protect areas in high seas or near-high seas.
Challenging Example
The deep-sea mining domain: While the treaty opens a path for oversight and impact assessment, the actual rules for monitoring and enforcement are still emerging. The remote nature of the seabed, weak jurisdictional reach, and extraction pressures make it hard to guarantee compliance.
Overlaps and governance gaps: In many high seas zones the rights and responsibilities are split among several governance bodies (fishing commissions, shipping conventions, seabed mining authorities) and coordinating them under the new treaty architecture will be a major institutional challenge.
Money, Mobilisation, Nature-Finance & the Enforcement Gap
Protection is one thing; enforcing protection is another — and enforcement costs money, technology and political will.
Nature-finance flows to the ocean
The European Union has pledged around €40 million via its Global Ocean Programme to support ratification and implementation especially in developing states.
But experts warn the gap is much larger: monitoring satellites, autonomous underwater vehicles, patrol ships, data systems, enforcement mechanisms all cost.
It is estimated that billions of dollars per year will be required to bring ocean protection to scale (including high-seas areas), particularly if we are to meet targets like “30% of oceans protected by 2030”.
The enforcement gap and nature-capital mobilisation
Mobilising nature capital means creating financial flows (public funding, philanthropic, private investment) that treat ocean biodiversity and ecosystem services as assets worth protecting and investing in.
The high seas treaty creates a new opportunity for nature-finance: it gives a clearer legal foundation for investors and donors to back ocean protection in the high seas.
But to close the enforcement gap: we need funds not just for “paper parks” but for monitoring, surveillance, compliance, and adaptive management. That means satellites, automatic identification systems on vessels, drone patrols, data sharing across states.
Some key questions ahead: Who pays? How is benefit-sharing structured? How do we incentivise private capital to invest in enforcement (rather than just in “no-take zones” with low overhead)? What financial mechanisms (e.g., blue bonds, nature-based investment funds) can tap the high seas?
The Road Ahead: What to Watch and What Needs to Happen
Key challenges and watch-points
Domestic ratification & implementation: Even though 60 ratifications have been reached, each country still needs to pass domestic legislation, allocate budgets and build capacity. Some large maritime nations are still pending.
Institution building: The treaty requires a secretariat, clearing-house mechanism, scientific and technical body, a COP process. Setting these up quickly and ensuring they are well-resourced is essential.
Monitoring, reporting and enforcement: Establishing MPAs is one thing; ensuring they are effective is another. For high seas, enforcement is especially challenging because of jurisdictional gaps, remoteness and technology cost.
Integration with existing bodies: The new treaty must harmonise with regional fishery organisations, shipping governance, seabed mining regimes. Overlap and conflict must be managed.
Equity and inclusion: Ensuring that developing states benefit from capacity-building, technology transfer and that they have a seat at the table in decisions is vital for legitimacy and fairness.
Financing and sustainable investment: The “race” is not just ratification but the mobilisation of millions/billions for protection, enforcement, research and innovation in the high seas.
What success could look like
Within a year of entry into force, the first COP (Conference of the Parties) convenes and adopts rules for MPAs proposals, benefit-sharing arrangements and monitoring frameworks.
Multiple large-scale high seas MPAs are proposed, approved and begin implementation (with management plans, research programmes, monitoring).
A funded secretariat is operational, the clearing-house mechanism is live, and states are reporting on implementation.
An increase in private-sector investment in ocean protection and enforcement technologies (satellite monitoring, autonomous drones, blockchain tracking of high-seas vessels) tied to the new treaty’s legal backbone.
Improved coordination between high-seas governance and national/regional governance so that high seas protection becomes part of the global ocean governance ecosystem, not a separate silo.
A Milestone, Not the Finish Line
The achievement of 60 ratifications for the high seas treaty marks a milestone — a signal that we are ready to shift from promise to action for the largest unprotected shared ecosystem on Earth. But it is not the finish line.
For this treaty to translate into real change — healthier oceans, thriving marine biodiversity, fewer infractions, stronger enforcement — the next phases are crucial: securing funding, building institutions, implementing enforcement, aligning governance, and ensuring equity.
In a sense, we are now entering the “implementation decade” for the high seas. The question is no longer whether we will have a legal framework (we do), but whether we will rise to the challenge of making it live, effective and transformative.
For online magazine readers, this is an invitation: the ocean’s future is no longer abstract or “out there” — the high seas are now part of the global governance story, and their protection will affect climate, food systems, biodiversity, and the health of the planet.