世界各國達共識 研議海洋保護全球公約

Government representatives from around the world agreed Saturday to develop the first legally-binding agreement to conserve marine life in the high seas and international seabed, an area covering roughly half the planet.

After four days of intense deliberations at UN Headquarters in New York, delegates reached consensus to begin negotiating a UN treaty that addresses the protection of marine life in areas beyond national jurisdiction – the global ocean commons.

The ninth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group on Biological Diversity Beyond Areas of National Jurisdiction was attended by some 200 participants, including national delegations, intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations.

The meeting was the last of three convened by the UN General Assembly over the past nine months to discuss the scope, parameters and feasibility of a possible new international instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, BBNJ, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.

The meeting produced recommendations for a decision to be taken during the current session of the UN General Assembly on the development of a new treaty under UNCLOS, as mandated by the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, informally called Rio+20.

The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction is attracting increased international attention. Areas around seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold-water coral reefs are rich in biodiversity but vulnerable to damage by human activities such as fishing and bioprospecting.

At the meeting progress came despite pressure from a small group of governments that questioned the need for a new legal framework. That minority blocked agreement on a faster timeline reflecting the clear scientific imperative for action, but all countries agreed on the need to act.

As an assurance to high seas fishing states, it was agreed that any new treaty would not undermine existing agreements or the work of relevant international bodies.

The outcome of the meeting must now be adopted by the UN General Assembly by September 2015, during the current session.

“Though the final results remain uncertain, many have high hopes for the new treaty,” says Kristina Gjerde, senior high seas advisor iwth the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

“It could help secure the designation of a truly global system of marine protected areas, mainstream biodiversity conservation into the governance of high seas fisheries, shipping and seabed mining, and provide for more effective access to marine genetic resources,” Gjerde said. “The treaty could also also foster important new scientific and commercial discoveries while ensuring the benefits are shared by all.”

Although many conservationists were disappointed that the recommendation did not designate a date for convening of an intergovernmental conference, the meeting did succeed in charting the way forward for negotiations and, for the first time, reaching consensus on the legally-binding nature of a future agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ.

As reported by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, the U.S. delegation pointed out that difficult questions remain unanswered: could a fish be considered a marine genetic resource? Who in the very long chain from basic research to product sales would be required to share benefits: the end user, the state of the end user, the seller, the state of the seller? And to whom would any benefits go and on what basis would they be distributed?