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.
"The ocean is the lifeblood of our planet. And today, you have pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a session of the intergovernmental conference on marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Guterres noted that two decades in the making, the adoption of the agreement "demonstrates the strength of multilateralism."
"By acting to counter threats to our planet that go beyond national boundaries, you are demonstrating that global threats deserve global action," said the UN chief.
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 which 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.
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