What is the outcome of the Nice conference on the oceans?
Although much remains to be done to truly protect the oceans, the Nice summit has helped to advance existing treaties and bring some hope, according to a large part of the foreign press.
“A glimmer of hope for marine life.” This is how the website of the British news channel BBC summarized the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which ended on Friday, June 13. For a week, 64 heads of state—a record attendance—and delegations from numerous countries gathered in Nice to demonstrate their commitment to international collaboration to preserve the oceans.
Pollution, rising temperatures, overfishing, and also the desire to exploit the mineral resources of the deep sea are the main threats to these expanses of salt water, which cover 70% of the planet's surface. "The objective of this meeting was not to reach a new binding agreement, but rather to advance existing treaties," specifies the BBC .
According to The Guardian , “the biggest step forward is that enough countries have either ratified the High Seas Treaty or have formally committed to doing so soon.” Adopted unanimously in June 2023, this international treaty for the protection of the high seas and marine biodiversity, known by its acronym BBNJ , will, once ratified, provide the first legal mechanism capable of achieving the global goal of protecting 30% of the world's seas by 2030.
But what the Italian website Mediterranews notes is that the threshold of 60 ratifications required for the BBNJ to enter into force has not been reached. Italy, moreover, is not among the countries to have ratified it. However, 19 nations have benefited.
Courrier International
