The European Parliament ratifies the Global Treaty for the Protection of the Oceans

With 556 votes in favor out of a total of 630, the European Parliament approved the ratification of the UN Treaty for the Protection of the Oceans, aimed at promoting the conservation of marine biodiversity in the so-called "high seas", i.e. the waters found beneath beyond national jurisdictions and covering approximately half of the entire surface of the planet.According to EU law, the Treaty will now have to be ratified by every EU member state.At present, 89 countries globally have committed to signing the Treaty, but only 4 countries – Palau, Chile, Belize and Seychelles – have already done so.At least 60 ratifications are required for it to come into force.

As stated on the United Nations portal, the text – which consists of 75 articles in total – outlines a “borderless protection” of the oceans, aiming to make all States responsible for the protection of a global public good.The international agreement which yesterday obtained the approval of the European Chamber has as its more ambitious objective that of protecting 30% of the oceans, to be achieved by 2030 through the creation of a network of marine protected areas (to date, in fact, only 1.2% of the oceans are under total protection).To this end, the birth of a new international body is expected to supervise the choices of various governments and to commit to ensuring the conservation of ocean life.Among the main objectives are the recovery of endangered marine species, the introduction of limitations on vessel transit areas and fishing activities and a set of new rules underpinning countries' access to the exploitation of genetic material of marine fauna and flora, as well as capacity building and technology transfer to developing countries.Furthermore, the creation of new binding parameters regarding environmental impact assessments on commercial activities on the high seas, as well as an integrated approach to ocean management in order to enable ecosystems to cope with the negative effects of climate change and ocean acidification.

The European Union promised to put 40 million euros on the table to support the ratification of the Treaty by developing countries, while another 3.5 billion euros were promised by the European institutions for the protection of the oceans in the framework of the Our Ocean Conference, which took place in recent days in the Greek capital Athens.«The European Union – ha commented the Greenpeace Italia organization – was fundamental during the long negotiations that led to the definition of a historical agreement for the protection of the planet's seas and today's ratification confirms this.Today's vote is an important signal, the first from a regional organization that we hope will trigger immediately a wave of ratifications also by the 27 governments that are part of the EU ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference scheduled for Nice in 2025."Greenpeace hopes that «Italy will proceed with rapid ratification to create an effective network of marine areas also in the Mediterranean, and achieve the objective of protecting at least 30% of our seas by 2030».

[by Stefano Baudino]