Oceans have long been a dumping area for plastics, pesticides, fertilizers, sewage, and just about everything else. They are also sponges for carbon emissions from our fossil fuel economy. The prevalent attitude has been that our behavior cannot impact such large bodies of water. We are learning this is not the case.
There have been several breakthrough agreements in recent years that are shifting behaviors. A conservation agreement to the High Seas Treaty signed in 2023 set the goal of designating 30 percent of open ocean as protected areas by 2030. These are areas beyond territorial waters and national jurisdictions. The agreement focuses on equitable access to marine genetic resources. Sea weeds, sea sponges, and bacteria are increasingly lucrative to pharmaceuticals, industrial processes, and food production. At the time of signing, only 1.2 percent of open seas were designated protected areas. Getting to 30 percent will be challenging but establishing goals and implementation plans are critical steps. Governments have now agreed to impose restrictions on fishing, shipping routes, and deep-sea mining.
Moreover, this agreement adds the missing piece to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The Framework to protect 30 percent of land is now joined by commitments to protect 30 percent of water. The interconnectedness of the blue economy and marine ecosystems is now recognized.
A second agreement, one by the World Trade Organization (WTO), aims to reduce overfishing. It requires countries to scale back subsidies (estimated at $22 billion) that encourage unsustainable fishing practices with the goal of protecting dwindling marine life and promoting global food security. It is the WTO’s first treaty centered on environmental protection and its first binding multilateral pact dedicated to safeguarding the world’s oceans. The cutbacks on subsidies are tied to illegal fishing and overfished stocks (estimated at 33 percent of species). The next phase will curb subsidies that fund the construction of vessels in industrial fishing fleets.
As we know from international climate agreements, countries often don’t reach their ambitious goals. Countries fell short on their 2010 pledges to make 10 percent of coastal and marine areas protected by 2020. Gabon, on the coast of Central Africa, however, offers a model and blueprint for protecting its littoral waters. It created a new network of Marine Protected Areas in 2014, increasing its MPAs from one percent to 26 percent. These areas restrict human activity for conservation purposes with the aim of preserving natural habitats. It has recently committed to the 30 x 30 pledge to protect 30 percent of its oceans. Gabon designed its MPAs to protect essential ecosystems and key global marine populations like sea turtles. Its protected areas extend 200 nautical miles offshore.
California is doing its part by expanding its network of MPAs offshore along its lengthy coast.
