The UN forged a historic deal to protect ocean life

The Sustainable Future of Oceans: First Protocol Protocol of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity and Resilience, signed by 23 countries before sunrise today

Editor’s Note: Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen are marine biologists, award-winning conservation photographers, speakers and co-founders of SeaLegacy, a global marketing, education and communication agency for the ocean. Founded and led by a team of world class filmmakers, conservationists and photographers, SeaLegacy uses strategic communications at the intersection of art, science, and conservation to protect and rewild the ocean for the benefit of biodiversity, humanity, and climate.

Leveraging Duarte’s findings requires rapid and bold action, but it does not mean we must sacrifice our economic futures. In addition to being one of the most potent carbon sinks, a healthy sea can provide sustainable economic abundance across generations of a wide range of stakeholders.

The ocean is crucial in the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Recent scientific discoveries have found that marine ecosystems are far more efficient at sequestering and holding carbon than land-based plants or trees, trapping and storing carbon for thousands, if not millions, of years. Blue carbon is the amount of carbon captured in these environments.

Blue carbon credits are the foundation of the economic opportunity. Businesses and individuals can offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits issued against the protection of ocean carbon sinks.

More than 190 countries agreed to protect 30 percent of Earth’s lands and waters by the end of the decade at the UN Biodiversity Conference. The historic deal was struck before sunrise today following nearly two weeks of negotiations in Montreal.

Meller said that, “We praise countries for seeking compromises, putting aside differences and delivering a treaty that will let us protect the oceans, build our resilience to climate change and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people.”

The Crucial Role of Biodiversity in the Survival of the Blazing Toad (Leptophryne cruentata)

Among the most at-risk groups are amphibians and reef-forming corals. A global assessment shows that more than 40% of amphibians are threatened with extinction1, including the critically endangered bleeding toad (Leptophryne cruentata), which lives in Mount Gede Pangrango National Park in Java, Indonesia.

In 2000, some toads were spotted by a team led by herpetologist Mirza Kustian, who thought the toads were extinct. The research team found that the Amphibians were carriers of chytriomycota. Kusrini says that climate change is probably making life hard for the tiny toad, which got its common name from the crimson, splatter-like spots covering its body. Warm weather can change the timing of toads breeding season and make them vulnerable.

It is difficult to predict what will happen in a particular area because of the knowledge that needs to be known about which species are present. Much of the information is hard to find. However, scientists have shown3 that ecosystems with less biodiversity are not as good at capturing and converting resources into biomass, such as happens when plants capture nutrients or sunlight used for growth.

Less-diverse environments can be better at decomposing and recycling. For example, studies show that dead organisms are broken down, and their nutrients recycled, more quickly when a high variety of plant litter covers the forest floor4. Naeem says that systems with low biodiversity are not as good at bounce back from shocks as systems with more diversity.

It won’t function efficiently and it won’t be very robust if we lose parts of our system. Rock solid science is behind that.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04370-4

What is the Big Green Lüft? Commentary on the World Biodiversity Conference following FIFA World Cup 2002 in South Africa and the impact on the natural environment

Ecosystems also provide clean water and can sometimes prevent diseases from spreading to humans. When species are lost, these services deteriorate, Kusrini says. The majority of amphibians eat insects, many of which are considered pests. There have been studies that show an increase in cases of Malaria in areas of Central America with collapsed amphibian populations. “You know when they disappear”, Kusrini says, because insect numbers rise and people start using more pesticides to kill them.

Eradicating invasive species is another important conservation strategy, and the framework’s draft currently calls for cutting the introduction of such species in half. Estimates indicate thatcats and rats are responsible for more than half of extinctions of animals.

It is important that governments agree on a framework with quantifiable targets so that progress can be measured, and that they can be held accountable if they do not meet their targets, researchers say. They will create a long list of waffle, I am afraid. “We need quantification.”

The newly adopted framework says protected areas should be created “recognizing and respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, including over their traditional territories.”

The 30×30 targets are called a big green lie by some human rights advocates. Survival International said on Facebook that the land grab would force millions of Indigenous peoples off their ancestral lands.

Nevertheless, large conservation groups celebrated the adoption of the new framework. “If more people grasped the pace, severity and long-term implications of biodiversity loss, the eyes of the world might have been focused on Montreal rather than Qatar over these two weeks,” Andrew Deutz, a director at the nonprofit The Nature Conservancy, said in a statement referencing the FIFA World Cup that coincided with the UN Biodiversity Conference.

The framework is a start but it is only a first step, and the even harder task is to keep harms committed in the name of conservativism to a minimum.

“To return to World Cup metaphors – it really did feel like a championship game heading into extra time in knife-edge fashion,” Deutz said. “The big difference is … for the global biodiversity community, the next phase of hard work already beckons.”

The United Nations Oceans Working Group Rejoinds on a Treaty for the Protection of the World’s Marine Biodiversity

United Nations members gather Monday in New York to restart work on a treaty to safeguard the world’s marine biodiversity.

Two-thirds of the ocean is outside national boundaries on the high seas, where rules can be hard to enforce.

“The ocean is the life support system of our planet,” said Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Canada’s Dalhousie University. For the longest time we didn’t feel like we had much impact on the high seas. But that notion has changed with expansion of deep sea fishing, mining, plastic pollution, climate change,” and other human disturbances, he said.

Back in 2004, the UN set up an ad hoc group to discuss ocean protection. In 2015, the organization adopted a resolution to adopt a binding oceans treaty and, after years of talks, negotiation began in earnest last year.

Nichola Clark, an oceans expert who follows the negotiations of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in D.C., said that the commons were the largest global ones. We believe that the upcoming negotiations will lead to a treaty over the finish line.

The final wording of the agreement was hashed out by delegates of the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) at the end of a two-week meeting in New York City. The final session, which lasted for 38 uninterrupted hours, finished long after expected, on 4 March. A chemist and marine bioprospector at the University of Aberdeen,UK, who took part in the proceedings as an adviser to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said that it was excessive even by UN standards. It was crazy. The delegates were tired.

“We only really have two major global commons — the atmosphere and the oceans,” said Georgetown marine biologist Rebecca Helm. While the oceans may draw less attention, “protecting this half of earth’s surface is absolutely critical to the health of our planet.”

“We need a legally binding framework that can enable countries to work together to actually achieve these goals they’ve agreed to,” said Jessica Battle, an expert on oceans governance at World Wide Fund for Nature

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Monica Medina said the treaty was a priority for the country. “This agreement seeks to create, for the first time, a coordinated approach to establishing marine protected areas on the high seas,” she said. “It’s time to finish the job.”

Some small Pacific and Caribbean island countries areVulnerable to global ocean issues, such as pollution and climate change, which generally they do not cause nor have the resources to easily address, according to a lawyer from Samoa who is an Ocean Voices fellow.

The High Seas Agreement: A First Round of Talks between the Latin American Ocean and the United Nations, and its Implications for Marine Ecosystems

She said it’s important to get the traditional knowledge of local people and communities recognized as valid to help protect the lives of Indigenous groups.

With nearly half the planet’s surface covered by high seas, the talks are of great importance, said Gladys Martínez de Lemos, executive director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense focusing on environmental issues across Latin America.

The agreement was signed by both parties on Saturday evening, after two weeks of negotiations at the UN headquarters in New York ended in a mammoth final session.

Laura Meller, of the Greenpeace Nordic said that this is a sign that in a divided world, people can triumph over politics.

Human activity on the ocean is adding pressure, including industrial fishing, shipping, the nascent deep sea mining industry and the race to harness the ocean’s “genetic resources” – material from marine plants and animals for use in industries such as pharmaceuticals.

“Currently, there are no comprehensive regulations for the protections of marine life in this area,” Liz Karan, oceans project director at the Pew Charitable Trusts, told CNN.

“There are huge unmanaged gaps of habitat between the puzzle pieces. The professor of ocean science at University of California Santa Barbara said it was truly that bad.

Conflicts were a concern for some, as they worried that the agreement wouldn’t happen. The ride has been a bit of a roller coaster.

Major sticking points included nailing down the processes for creating marine protected areas and ensuring costs and benefits were shared equitably – especially as many developing countries may not have the technology or capacity to do their own scientific exploration of the high seas.

An updated framework to protect marine life in the regions outside national boundary waters, known as the high seas, had been in discussions for more than 20 years, but previous efforts to reach an agreement had repeatedly stalled. The treaty was reached late Saturday.

The treaty requires environmental impact assessments for any activities that are expected to have a significant effect. Nations will review these assessments and be in charge of approving the activities. Most scientific projects probably won’t require such evaluations, says Cymie Payne, an environmental-governance specialist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She added that the assessments will provide a central source of information about ocean activities.

Many marine species — including dolphins, whales, sea turtles and many fish — make long annual migrations, crossing national borders and the high seas. Efforts to protect those who rely on fishing and tourism related to marine life have previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws.

“This treaty will help to knit together the different regional treaties to be able to address threats and concerns across species’ ranges,” said Battle.

The role of commercial fishing in ensuring environmental protection in the oceans and in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the G8 summit in Latin America

That protection also helps coastal biodiversity and economies, said Gladys Martínez de Lemos, executive director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense focusing on environmental issues across Latin America.

“Governments have taken an important step that strengthens the legal protection of two-thirds of the ocean and with it marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal communities,” she said.

Commercial fishing operations are harmful to species and habitats in the ocean. The World Wildlife Fund says that more than a third of all sharks, rays, and shark-like fish are at risk of extinction.

“There was no way to coordinate between these kinds of organizations,” said Elizabeth Mendenhall, a marine affairs professor at the University of Rhode Island who researches ocean governance.

“So areas get more than they can handle because there isn’t a coordinated,holistic perspective,” she said.

Another issue is that there is no international body committed to preserving biological diversity in regions outside territorial seas or ground rules on accessing genetic resources found in international waters, Mendenhall said.

The treaty will also regulate countries and companies who can access and benefit sharing from the commercialization of “marine genetic resources,” which can be useful for the creation of pharmaceuticals or cosmetics.

According to Speer, who was part of the U.N. negotiating team, ensuring those resources will be shared in a fair and equitable way was a major point of tension in the negotiations.

The UN Ocean Protection Treaty: Notification for Scientific Cruises and the Creation of Environmental Assessment Standards for Research Cruises in the High Seas

Some scientists had worried that the treaty might require new permits for research projects exploring the high seas, adding bureaucracy to studies that can already be hard to get off the ground. This did not come to pass. Instead, research cruises will simply have to make a public notification about where they are going and when, says Jaspars. This will give “researchers from low- and middle-income countries an opportunity to join the cruise”, he says.

The fourth major component is setting global standards for environmental impact assessments. Cumulative impact, or combined impact, and incremental impact, will be considered by these evaluations.

The treaty’s implementation is crucial for the waters outside of national jurisdiction, as well as for regions and countries within it.

Billions of people depend on the ocean for basic needs, such as food, income, and sustenance, that’s what makes it important.

The U.S. has yet to sign the UN treaty on ocean protection, forty years after it was signed.

“As a Caribbean scientist, I am extremely pleased” with this aspect of the treaty, says Judith Gobin, a marine ecologist at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, in Trinidad and Tobago. “For too long we have watched research ships passing in the night, taking our marine organisms away.” She says that they will be involved.

The agreement calls for scientists to add a “BBNJ standardized batch identifier” to genetic data and biological samples collected from marine life, and to notify a clearing house as to where those data are published, no later than one year after collection. The patents and sales that come from the original research will be subject to the identifier. For researchers, “you’ll just have another number to attach to your spreadsheet”, Jaspars says, adding that most of the logistical burden of benefit sharing will instead land on those developing commercial applications.