By Ralf Roschlau
It is rare that a global environmental agreement is praised unreservedly by every EU member state, the US, China and the Africa Group. But precisely this happened last March, when all United Nations member states agreed on a legally binding UN High Seas treaty to protect the oceans’ biodiversity. NGOs also joined in the praise.
The high seas have always been spaces virtually free of regulation. For years, the UN has been wrestling with an environment protection agreement that, finally, it is putting into practice.
On 21 September 2023, the day that the agreement was ratified in the first instance, 70 member states became signatories.
This article first appeared in Trott-War, a magazine sold on the streets of Stuttgart, Germany, by people who have limited other ways of earning an income.