糖心视频

The , the minimum required to turn the (better known as the ) into law, means it will .

The treaty covers nearly 鈥攁苍 outside the national jurisdiction of any country, which has come under growing pressure from mining, fishing and geoengineering interests, with climate change a compounding factor.

The High Seas Treaty sits under the , which New Zealand ratified in 1996.

This established the international legal framework governing the marine environment within each country's , including the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf. New Zealand's EEZ is the and 15 times its landmass.

The objective of the High Seas Treaty is to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond national jurisdiction鈥攚here the seabed and its resources are "common heritage of humankind." It addresses four main issues: marine genetic resources and benefit sharing, marine protection, environmental impact assessments, and technology transfer.

New Zealand is the last country reported to be for species such as the long-lived orange roughy. It also has ambitions to allow seabed mining in its own waters. The High Seas Treaty is drawing much-needed attention to New Zealand's approach to ocean governance, both at home and on the world stage.

What this means for NZ

New Zealand was an in the drafting of the High Seas Treaty and an early signatory in September 2023. A total of 74 nations have now ratified it, but New Zealand is not one of them.

The deep seafloor beneath much of the high seas includes various habitats with rich biodiversity, .

Bottom trawling uses large nets to scrape the seafloor. The , which destroys the habitat of fish and other species.

While the High Seas Treaty doesn't directly regulate extractive activities such as fishing and mining in the high seas and deep seabed, it has implications for their exercise.

International organizations such as the and regulate mining and fisheries, respectively. But new international institutions will be established to enforce compliance with the High Seas Treaty, including to establish marine protected areas in support of the 's goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.

The treaty also requires new activities in the high seas and deep seabed鈥攁quaculture, geoengineering or seabed mining鈥攖o undergo an evaluation of environmental impacts.

A beacon for best-practice ocean governance

The High Seas Treaty reflects contemporary on best-practice ocean governance. Its guiding principles include:

• Those who pollute marine areas should bear the costs of managing the issue
• any benefits flowing from marine resources should be shared equitably (including with Indigenous peoples)
• states should take a precautionary approach to marine uses where their effects are not well understood
• states should take an ecosystem-based and integrated approach to ocean management
• states should use an ocean-governance approach that builds resilience to climate change and recognizes the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle, and
• states should use the best available science and traditional knowledge in ocean governance and respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.

These principles align with broader ocean-focused initiatives as part of the and the , which signals a growing awareness of the need to improve how ocean resources are managed.

In New Zealand, international law is not directly enforceable in the courts unless incorporated into domestic legislation. But the courts can refer to international treaties when interpreting domestic legislation.

This happened when the Supreme Court used the Law of the Sea Convention to direct decision makers to take a precautionary and ecosystem-based approach to approving , based on science, tikanga and m膩tauranga M膩ori.

The High Seas Treaty also reflects the unequivocal that states, including New Zealand, have obligations under international law to reduce the impacts of climate change on marine areas, reduce pollution and support the restoration of the ocean.

However, New Zealand in the protection of marine biodiversity. The government has delayed and proposed the removal of a requirement for cameras on fishing industry boats. It has also increased catch limits for some commercial fish species, but after being by environmental advocates.

It has also opened up seabed mining to the , despite a failure to meet basic standards for environmental impact assessment. And it is proposing to rework the to enable the use and development of the coastal environment for "priority activities" such as aquaculture, resource extraction and energy generation.

Time for NZ to show ocean leadership

and have repeatedly called for reform of New Zealand's highly fragmented and outdated oceans governance frameworks.

The international call to states to uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples stands in stark contrast to the New Zealand government's recent track record on M膩ori marine and coastal rights and interests.

The courts recently overturned government policies that failed to uphold protected by Treaty of Waitangi settlements. But the government nevertheless plans legal changes that would further undermine M膩ori customary rights in .

Upholding M膩ori rights in line with international law is not just an obligation but an opportunity. Iwi and hap奴 M膩ori have to the management of the ocean.

It is high time for New Zealand to show leadership on oceans policy on the global stage by ratifying the High Seas Treaty. But it is as important to look after matters within domestic waters, aligning fragmented and outdated marine laws to match global best practice in ocean governance.

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