News that the global treaty to protect marine biodiversity – formally known as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ agreement) – is set to come into effect on 17 January 2026, following its 60th ratification, has been welcomed by environmental NGO coalition High Seas Alliance (HSA).
Following the deposit of ratification instruments by four new countries at the United Nations – Sri Lanka, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone and Morocco – the High Seas Treaty has reached the milestone of 60 state ratifications needed to trigger its entry into force.
“This historic moment is the culmination of years of dedication and global diplomacy by governments and stakeholders” said Rebecca Hubbard, Director of the High Seas Alliance. “The High Seas Treaty is a powerful testament to multilateralism- showing what the world can achieve when we come together for the common good for our ocean, which covers more than 70% of the planet. Today marks an important step when promises start becoming action.”
HSA highlighted that the treaty is the first legally binding international agreement safeguarding marine life in the High Seas, which covers two-thirds of the world’s ocean and plays a critical role in ensuring a healthy planet.
The treaty provides new tools to halt biodiversity loss and ocean degradation through enabling the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters and ensuring environmental impact assessments of planned human activities.
It will also boost equity for developing countries through increasing knowledge and technology access, strengthening capacity, and ensuring the equitable access and sharing of the benefits of marine genetic resources.
HAS said these provisions are vital to achieving climate and biodiversity global goals, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) 30x30 target to protect 30% of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030.
Under the treaty, the first Conference of the Parties (CoP) must convene within a year of entry into force, likely towards the end of 2026, noted HSA.
It said that preparatory work is already underway at the UN to build the institutions and processes in time for CoP1 that will ensure the Treaty’s ambition and long-term effectiveness, and also that governments and stakeholders are also laying the groundwork for developing High Seas MPA proposals to protect critical biodiversity sites once the Treaty is operational. These include the Salas y Gómez and Nazca Ridges, the Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea, the Sargasso Sea and the Thermal Dome in the Eastern Pacific.
“Achieving 60 ratifications is not the finish line – it’s just the starting block,” Hubbard said. “The treaty’s true strength lies in universal participation. While we must celebrate this incredible progress, we urge all remaining nations to join this historic agreement and help us go from 60 to global ahead of the first CoP.”
Further ratifications are expected during the upcoming UN General Assembly High-Level Week in New York, beginning 22 September 2025.
Adopted in June 2023, after nearly two decades of discussion and negotiations, the treaty opened for signature on 20 September 2023. Palau became the first country to ratify on 22 January 2024, and since then states from every region have joined. In addition to the 60 ratifications, 142 countries plus the European Union have signed, signalling their intent to ratify.
