WORLD: High Seas Treaty – UN’s Guterres warns of ‘wild west’

‘The ocean is the ultimate shared resource,’ said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, ‘but we are failing it’ – Image: Bruno Bebert/abaca/picture alliance

UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned of peril as the world’s oceans face “predatory” mining, masses of plastic waste and rising sea temperatures. Small nations have called for big ones to “prove” their commitment.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres this week told delegates at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France: “The ocean is the ultimate shared resource. But we are failing it.”

The UN boss cited collapsing fish stocks, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, plastic pollution, destructive fishing and the quest for mineral riches at the ocean floor as key threats in his remarks.

The conference was organized to ratify a treaty that would give nations the right to establish protected marine areas in international waters.

Beyond providing sustenance and a habitat for local communities, sea creatures and organisms, oceans also absorb roughly 30% the globe’s CO2 emissions.

The High Seas Treaty, adopted in 2023, would allow countries to legally establish protection for roughly two-thirds of the world’s oceans — where activities are largely unregulated today.

Currently, only 8% of the world’s oceans have marine conservation designations, although it is estimated that only 1% overall can be considered truly protected.

Macron says High Seas Treaty a ‘done deal’

To go into effect, the High Seas Treaty must ratified by at least 60 countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron told those gathered that 50 countries had ratified the treaty so far and another 15 had formally promised to, making it “a done deal.”

France’s foreign minister said he expects implementation to take place by the end of the year.

Macron also announced that France would partially restrict bottom-trawling — a destructive form of fishing — in half of the countries protected marine areas. But conservation groups blasted him for not going far enough to protect French waters.

Guterres: Mining could turn seabed into ‘wild west’

The UN’s Guterres began the conference by addressing a major threat facing the world’s oceans — deep-sea mining.

Guterres warned of the dangers of letting the ocean floor “become the wild west.”

The US, China and Russia, among others, are keen to exploit potential mineral wealth on and beneath the ocean floor.

US President Donald Trump has moved aggressively on this front, fast-tracking US exploration in international waters and threatening to take territorial control of Greenland to get its share of Arctic rare earths.

Macron is lobbying for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, calling it “an international necessity.”

“I think it’s madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it and release irrecoverable carbon sinks,” he said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joined Macron in criticizing a “predatory race” among countries looking to extract critical minerals on the ocean floor.

No US delegation present at ocean conference

The US has also withdrawn from all international climate commitments and cut funding for climate and oceanographic projects under President Trump.

Commenting on the fact that the US had not sent a delegation to the conference, France’s Macron, said: “It’s not a surprise, we know the American administration’s position on these issues.”

“If they [the US] don’t ratify it, they are not bound by it,” said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance.

“Implementation will take years but it is critical that we start now,” said Hubbard, adding, “we won’t let the US’ absence stop that from happening.”

Small island nations call out the big fish

Investment in ocean health totaled $10 billion (€8.8 billion) from 2015 to 2019. The UN estimates that investment needs to be $175 billion annually to meet conservation goals.

The UN has announced it will introduce a new scheme to mobilize new and diverse sources of capital to finance an attempt to restore ocean health by 2028.

Alongside political and business leaders, ocean experts, conservationists and activists, the Nice conference was also attended by representatives from numerous small island nations facing rising seas, marine trash and decimated fish stocks.

Although the conference will not produce any legally binding agreement, those engaged in its implementation are pushing ahead.

Samoa, for one, led by example this week, announcing the creation of nine marine parks protecting 30% of its waters.

As large nations haggle over the price of protecting the oceans, President Surangel Whipps Jr of the low-lying Pacific nation of Palau, called them out: “We say to you, if you are serious about protecting the ocean, prove it.” (DW.com/NAN 11-06-25)

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