The pivotal marine agreement has achieved a significant milestone, cementing its activation.

A treaty designed to safeguard the world’s oceans and reverse damage to marine life is poised to become an international law.

The High Seas Treaty achieved its 60th ratification thanks to Morocco, taking effect from January.

This agreement, which has taken two decades to develop, will enable international waters to be designated as marine protected areas.

Environmentalists are praising this as a momentous accomplishment, a testament to international collaboration for environmental protection.

“Spanning more than two-thirds of the ocean, the treaty establishes binding rules to preserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity,” stated United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Decades of overfishing, shipping pollution, and climate change-induced warming have harmed marine life.

In a recent assessment, nearly 10% of marine species are at risk of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Three years ago, countries agreed to protect 30% of the world’s national and international waters, including the high seas, by 2030 to aid depleted marine life recovery.

However, safeguarding the high seas is challenging because no single country controls these waters and all nations have the right to ship and fish there.

Currently, only 1% of the high seas are protected, leaving marine life vulnerable to overexploitation.

As a result, in 2023 countries signed the High Seas Treaty, committing to allocate 30% of these waters into Marine Protected Areas.

However, the pact could only take effect if more than 60 nations ratified it, making them legally bound by it.

Elizabeth Wilson, a senior director for environmental policy at The Pews Charitable Trust, stated that the signatories reached this threshold “in record time,” considering that nations often require parliamentary approval, with ratification potentially taking over five years.

The UK has recently introduced its ratification bill to Parliament.

Kirsten Schuijt, director general of WWF International, hailed this as a groundbreaking achievement for ocean conservation.

Mads Christensen, the executive director of Greenpeace International, referred to it as a “landmark moment” and evidence that countries can unite to protect the planet.

Once the treaty comes into effect, countries will propose areas for protection, which will be voted on by the signatory nations.

Although critics note that countries will conduct their own environmental impact assessments and make the final decisions, other countries can raise concerns with the monitoring bodies.

The ocean is vital for all organisms on the planet; it is the largest ecosystem, contributes an estimated $2.5 trillion to world economies, and supplies up to 80% of the oxygen we breathe.