"Constitution for oceans" was signed at the UN

The Global Compact on Marine Biodiversity is seen as an important tool to achieve the agreed goal of protecting 30 percent of the world's land and water by 2030.
On Wednesday, September 21, at the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) held in New York, 67 countries signed the new UN Convention on the Protection of World Oceans. "By signing the convention, we can protect the oceans from human pressure and take a step closer to our goal of protecting at least 30 percent of the planet by 2030," said Virginius Sinkevičius, the European Union's Environment Commissioner. He called the document a "constitution for the oceans." In order for the treaty to enter into force, it must be ratified by states at the national level.

After almost 15 years of negotiations, the Global Compact for the Protection of Marine Biodiversity was agreed in March 2023 and officially adopted by the UN in June. It is seen as an important tool to achieve the goal of protecting 30 percent of the world's land and water ("30 by 30") by 2030, which was agreed last year. In recent years, threats to the world's oceans have increased due to rising temperatures and overfishing. New threats may arise from seabed mining and geoengineering technologies that increase the oceans' capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.

Environmental groups have said the agreement must be fully implemented by 2025 to meet the 30 by 30 goal. "The ocean cannot wait, and given that the agreement has been in place for almost 20 years, there is no time to waste," said Jessica Bettle, a marine expert at the World Wide Fund for Nature. In turn, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that $500 million may be needed to start implementing the agreement, and another $100 million per year to create a special fund for implementation and capacity building.

Source: Kun.uz