The announcement came early on the morning of Oct. 31. Delegates to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, had finally agreed on a protocol for identifying for protection unique parts of the high seas, the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that are international waters. The late-conference acceptance of this science-based process for pinpointing ecologically or biologically significant marine areas, or EBSAs, in the high seas provides a pathway to create marine protected areas (MPAs) in international waters. Observers say it’s integral to the high seas treaty to protect biodiversity, which U.N. members adopted in June 2023. Amid a largely underwhelming COP16, particularly after the “historic” adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at COP15 in Montreal two years prior, several oceans-related decisions, as well as the formal inclusion of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in negotiations going forward, were bright spots at the summit, observers said. The EBSA process, developed through eight years of negotiations, is “a vital stepping stone along the way to protecting 30% of the ocean, particularly on the high seas,” Pepe Clark, oceans practice leader with Switzerland-based WWF International, said in a statement. The GBF calls for 30% of the world’s land and oceans to be protected by 2030, a goal known as “30×30.” Researchers have identified more than 300 EBSAs for possible protection in international waters, Clark added. Known formally as the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), the treaty is legally binding…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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