Global treaty to protect vast areas of oceans set to take effect in Jan

A multinational treaty to protect vast expanses of the world’s oceans is finally set to become law in January 2026, with environmentalists hailing its enactment on Sept 19 as crucial to safeguarding the marine ecosystems.

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The move by Morocco and Sierra Leone to join the UN treaty on the high seas clinched the threshold of at least 60 ratifications needed to enact it as international law.

The law aims to protect biodiverse areas in waters worldwide that lie beyond countries’ exclusive economic zones.

Teeming with plant and animal life, the oceans are responsible for creating half the earth’s oxygen supply and are vital to combating climate change, conservationists say.

But those same waters are threatened by pollution and overfishing. They also face growing challenges from deep-sea mining, with an emerging industry plumbing previously untouched seabeds for commodities including nickel, cobalt and copper.

“Covering more than two-thirds of the ocean, the agreement sets binding rules to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.