• On 8 June, World Ocean Day 2024 director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Grethel Aguilar, urged countries worldwide “to strive for a fully functional High Seas Biodiversity Treaty”.

Background

• The treaty will become international law only when it is signed and ratified by at least 60 countries. India has neither signed nor ratified the treaty.
• Only seven countries such as Belize, Chile, Mauritius, Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Palau and the Seychelles have ratified the treaty.
• The high seas are those areas of the world’s oceans that are outside national jurisdictions.
• They constitute a huge chunk of the world’s oceans and are home to a wide variety of biodiversity. Despite this, less than two per cent of the world’s high seas are protected by law.

About the treaty

• The High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, also known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), is a legally binding United Nations treaty adopted in June 2023.
• It applies to areas beyond national jurisdiction, including the high seas and the seabed. The treaty aims to address the challenges faced by the high seas, which constitute areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the exclusive economic zones of coastal countries.

• The treaty aims to conserve and sustainably manage marine biodiversity in these areas, and provide a legal framework to address stressors affecting the marine environment.
• It aims to ensure fair and equitable sharing of profits from marine genetic resources (MGR) and establish rules for conducting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA).

About IUCN

• Headquarters: Gland, Switzerland
• Founded: 5 October 1948, Fontainebleau, France
• President: Razan Al Mubarak
• IUCN, also releases Red List which defines the extinction risk of species assessed. Nine categories extend from NE (Not Evaluated) to EX (Extinct). Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be threatened with extinction.