Historic High Seas Treaty Enters Force, Creating Legal Framework to Protect Waters Covering Almost Half of the Planet's Surface
The High Seas Treaty entered into force in January 2026. The landmark agreement establishes the first legal framework to protect marine biodiversity in international waters, which cover almost half of the planet's surface.
EnvironmentGNGV Editorial Team5 min read
After nearly two decades of negotiations, one of the most significant environmental agreements in history has become law. The High Seas Treaty — formally known as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction — entered into force in January 2026.
The milestone represents a triumph of multilateral diplomacy and a watershed moment for ocean conservation.
For the first time in history, there is now a legal framework governing the protection of marine biodiversity in international waters — the vast expanses of ocean that lie beyond any nation's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. These high seas cover almost half of the planet's surface and contain some of the planet's most important and least understood ecosystems.
The treaty enables the creation of marine protected areas on the high seas, establishes requirements for environmental impact assessments before commercial activities can proceed in international waters, and creates mechanisms for the fair sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources — the biological compounds found in deep-sea organisms that hold enormous potential for medicine, industry, and biotechnology.
While some international agreements regulated specific activities like fishing and shipping, there was no comprehensive framework for protecting biodiversity. This meant that mining, drilling, and other extractive activities could proceed with minimal environmental oversight.
Marine scientists have welcomed the treaty as transformative, noting that it provides the tools needed to protect critical ecosystems like hydrothermal vents, seamounts, and mid-ocean ridges that harbor unique species found nowhere else on Earth. The agreement represents humanity's most ambitious commitment to ocean stewardship and acknowledges that the health of the high seas is inseparable from the health of the planet.
Why it matters
Now in force after its 60th ratification, the treaty is the first legal framework for protecting marine biodiversity in international waters, nearly two-thirds of the ocean. It allows high-seas protected areas and requires environmental impact assessments before commercial activities proceed.
