STORY: UN adopts agreement to protect high seas
DATELINE: June 20, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:14
LOCATION: UN Headquarters
CATEGORY: POLITICS/ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of ECOSOC Chamber
2. various of delegates applauding the adoption of the agreement
3. various of UN Secretary-General ANTONIO GUTERRES speaking
4. SOUNDBITE (English): ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN Secretary-General
5. various of delegates
6. various of ECOSOC Chamber

STORYLINE:

The United Nations on Monday adopted a historic agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction which cover over two-thirds of the ocean.

SOUNDBITE (English): ANTONIO GUTERRES, UN Secretary-General
"Two decades in the making, the adoption of this agreement demonstrates the strength of multilateralism, building on the legacy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. By acting to counter threats to our planet that go beyond national boundaries, you are demonstrating that global threats deserve global action."

He called on all states to act without delay to sign and ratify the agreement as soon as possible.

The agreement will be open for signature at the UN headquarters in New York for two years from Sept. 20, 2023, and will enter into force after ratification by 60 states, according to a UN press release.

Waters that lie beyond national jurisdictions, known as the high seas, comprise nearly two-thirds of the ocean's area. However, figures from the World Wide Fund for Nature show that only about 1 percent of this huge swath of the planet is protected.

The newly-adopted agreement, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, is expected to significantly strengthen the legal framework for protecting high seas.

Among the key issues it addresses, the agreement sets up a framework for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, ensuring that such activities benefit all of humanity, the UN said.

It will enable the establishment of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, to conserve and sustainably manage vital habitats and species in the high seas and the international seabed area.

Such measures are critical for archiving the "30 by 30" global target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the world's terrestrial and inland water areas, and of marine and coastal areas by 2030, as agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the UN said.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from UN Headquarters.
(XHTV)