UN treaty to protect ‘extraordinary’ marine life due to come into force

World-first pact aims to protect 10 million species from threats such as climate change, overfishing and deep-sea mining.Published On 16 Jan 2026A landmark United Nations treaty protecting marine diversity in international waters is due to enter into force, after 81 governments agreed to include it in their national laws.In total, 148 countries, representing more than three-quarters of all UN member states, have signed on to the High Seas Treaty since it was adopted in June 2023.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Climate change an ‘existential threat’, UN court says in landmark opinionlist 2 of 4First treaty to protect marine life in high seas to take effect in Januarylist 3 of 4Trump torpedoes international deal to reduce shipping emissionslist 4 of 4‘We don’t want to disappear’: Tuvalu fights for climate action and survivalend of listCountries that have fully ratified the treaty in their national laws include island nations such as Palau, Cuba and the Maldives, as well as some of the world’s biggest economies, including China, Germany, Japan, France and Brazil.Coming into force on Saturday and officially known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), the treaty offers new protections to an area covering two-thirds of the world’s oceans and as many as 10 million different species, many of which are still unidentified.Rebecca Hubbard, the director of the High Seas Alliance, a nongovernmental organisation that supports the treaty, said the agreement offers a means to protect an “extraordinary part of our planet”.“The High Seas are full of life, from tiny plankton all the way up to the great whales that rely on them,” Hubbard said in a statement.“We’re only just beginning to understand how important this vast, interconnected world is for the health of our entire planet,” she said.“Whether it’s underwater mountains, deep-sea plains and trenches, the icy polar waters, or the open-ocean highways that migratory species travel, the High Seas are as vital as they are immense,” she added.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has previously described the treaty as “a lifeline for the ocean and humanity”, as it faces threats including “climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution”.