NICE, France, Jun 13 (IPS) – With the way forward for the world’s oceans hanging within the stability, international leaders, scientists, and activists gathered within the French Riviera metropolis of Good this week for the historic UN Ocean Convention, the place France declared a brand new period of excessive seas governance and marine safety.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, France’s Particular Envoy for the UN Ocean Convention, mentioned the worldwide gathering marks a turning level for ocean conservation, with 174 delegations and 64 heads of state rallying behind a typical purpose—to remodel the world’s oceans from a lawless expanse right into a protected international commons ruled by science, cooperation, and binding treaties.
“The excessive seas are not a playground. They’re now a protected house,” d’Arvor instructed reporters, asserting that the UN’s landmark treaty on Biodiversity Past Nationwide Jurisdiction (BBNJ) will formally enter into power by early January 2026.
Dubbed the “Treaty of Good,” the pact seeks to put almost two-thirds of the world’s ocean below worldwide governance, a transfer hailed by conservationists as the most important step ahead for marine safety in a long time. With 56 international locations having ratified the treaty and 14 extra anticipated to comply with earlier than the ceremonial launch in New York on September 23, the settlement meets the 60-country threshold required for it to grow to be legislation.
“This can be a foundational second,” mentioned d’Arvor. “Good might grow to be for ocean governance what Rio was for local weather and biodiversity.”
The treaty, negotiated over 15 years, goals to manage the excessive seas—areas past nationwide jurisdiction which have lengthy been susceptible to overfishing, air pollution, and unregulated extraction. It additionally lays the groundwork for the first-ever Ocean COP, anticipated by the top of 2026, the place signatory international locations will finalize implementation protocols, set up a everlasting secretariat, and start actual enforcement via satellites, naval fleets, and drones.
Regardless of tensions in multilateral diplomacy, France—with co-host Costa Rica and the UN—has managed to provoke widespread help. In a powerful present of unity, even geopolitical rivals corresponding to China, India, and the European Union endorsed the treaty, whereas Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Indonesia ratified it in the course of the summit.
D’Arvor additionally used the event to warning towards a renewed push for deep-sea mining, notably in gentle of a latest U.S. govt order authorizing a preliminary exploration mission. “The deep sea will not be on the market—not more than Antarctica or Greenland,” he warned, pledging {that a} coalition of 40 international locations would proceed to dam any try and undertake a mining code with out consensus below the Worldwide Seabed Authority (ISA).
“Those that hoped the code could be adopted at Kingston this July have misplaced the battle. I hope they’ve misplaced the conflict,” he added.
In parallel with the treaty’s authorized strides, the convention noticed the launch of the European Ocean Pact, a collaborative ocean exploration initiative unveiled by European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen. The pact, backed by international locations together with India and China, goals to appropriate the stark imbalance in analysis funding—at the moment, ocean exploration receives 250 occasions much less funding than house applications.
By bringing collectively oceanographic institutes, house companies, and personal sector gamers, the initiative guarantees to generate a shared international database to assist map and perceive the ocean in unprecedented element. “In 15 years, we purpose to completely perceive the ocean—or no less than sufficient to actually shield it,” mentioned d’Arvor.
He pressured that science—not political posturing—would be the new compass for ocean coverage. “That is the victory of science. The ocean has lengthy been a sufferer of exploitation and ignorance. However now, it could grow to be a platform for cooperation and peace.”
But challenges stay. Whereas Unique Financial Zones (EEZs) are comparatively nicely managed, questions linger about compliance and enforcement. The true take a look at, observers say, shall be translating high-level pledges into measurable progress.
Nonetheless, the momentum in Good has introduced renewed hope for ocean defenders across the globe. “We aren’t there but,” mentioned d’Arvor. “However for the primary time, we’re actually shifting ahead—and there’s no turning again.”
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