Have We Taken Too Long in Taking Action to Fulfil SDG14?

By: Harry Langford

Given that our planet’s oceans cover up 71% of the planet (National Geographic, 2023), protecting and shielding them from climate change should be our priority. Our actions and our neglect since the industrial revolution have drastically damaged our oceans, making it vital for us to act quickly and extensively to salvage the ecosystems which are struggling to survive in spite of rather than because of our actions. According to the United Nations (2021):

“As the planet’s greatest carbon sink, the ocean absorbs excess heat and energy released from rising greenhouse gas emissions trapped in the Earth’s system. Today, the ocean has absorbed about 90 percent of the heat generated by rising emissions”.  

This is resulting in melting ice caps, rising sea levels of around 3.6 cm per decade (Oppenheimer, M et al., 2019), marine heatwaves, ocean acidification and so much more. Extreme storm surges, flooding, coastal erosion, marine heatwaves and landslides are becoming annual events rather than the historic pattern of once a century. Due to the increased number of marine heatwaves, the UN environment programme predicts that ‘every one of the world’s coral reefs could bleach by the end of the century if the water continues to warm” and that the irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems will be catastrophic: by 2100 over half of the world’s marine species will be on the brink of extinction (United Nations, 2021). If we woke up tomorrow and there was an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius, around 80% of coral reefs would be destroyed, devastating marine life. 

Action needs to be taken immediately to stop this destruction. So which actions are being taken? The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 focusses on conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. There are 2 main actions being focussed on globally to fulfil this goal: the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty (“BBNJ”) and the High Seas Alliance. BBNJ, or the “High Seas Treaty”, was signed in September 2023 by UN member states to safeguard life in the ocean beyond national jurisdiction. This is the first comprehensive cross sectoral ocean treaty of its kind and entailed 20 years of negotiations (United Nations, 2023). This treaty gives practical effect to SDG14 with signatories agreeing to protect at least 30% of our seas by 2030. This agreement “will enable the establishment of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, to conserve and sustainably manage vital habitats and species in the high seas and the international seabed area” (United Nations, 2023). 

BBNJ has 4 main topics and key ideas:

1. Fresh Protection beyond borders –  the high seas should have protection against destructive trends such as pollution and the unsustainable fishing activities that happened in the past.
2. Cleaner Oceans – “Toxic chemicals and millions of tons of plastic waste are flooding into coastal ecosystems, killing or harming all marine life and making their way into the food chain and ultimately being consumed by humans” (United Nations, 2023, June 19), thus harming marine life, but also humans. According to the UN, by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean (United Nations, 2023, June 19). In 2021, more than 17 million tons of plastic were present in the ocean: this number is predicted to double or even triple each year by 2040 (United Nations, 2023, June 19). This Treaty contains provisions based on the “polluter-pays” principle and provides for signatories to carry out an assessment of the impact of environmental activities intended to be carried out outside of that party’s jurisdiction.  
3. Sustainably managing fish stocks – the treaty will stop the trend of overfishing helping to restore fish stocks.  According to the UN, over a third of fish stocks are over-exploited (United Nations, 2023, June 19). The treaty emphasises the need to build capacity as well as for the transfer of marine technology and development of national regulatory frameworks.
4. Lowering temperatures – The Treaty provides guidance for ocean management which will improve “ecosystem resilience” and help to counter the harmful consequences of climate change and ocean acidification, restoring the ecosystem’s original functionality and, in turn, its ability to cycle carbon.

Who is fighting for the ratification of the treaty? Mainly, it is the High Seas Alliance, with the help of the UN and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The High Seas Alliance is composed of 50+ non-governmental members who are all working together to achieve SDG14 and critically, to protect our oceans (High Seas Alliance, 2024a). Before the High Seas Treaty, there was no legally binding mechanism to conserve marine life and its ecosystems. At the time of writing, 104 countries have signed the High Seas Treaty (High Seas Alliance, 2024b), demonstrating their desire to consent to a new international law of the oceans. Individual countries now must ratify the treaty through their own legal process to make it national law. Once 60 countries do so, a 120-day countdown will be triggered, at the end of which the global agreement will enter into force, enabling a robust protection of our high seas and marine life.  

How close are we then to it becoming international law? So far, whilst 104 countries have signed the treaty, only 13 have ratified it (High Seas Alliance, 2024b). Some of this can be explained by the process of ratification and how it differs from country to country, some harder to do than others.  Impressively, all 27 EU members of the UN signed the High Seas Treaty – the ratification process must now take place at a national level. The High Seas Alliance have announced that they are hopeful to announce the 60+ ratifications in the 3^rd UN Ocean Conference taking place in Nice, France, in June 2025. 

Is this initiative too late to make a real impact? If you asked the average citizen, they would most likely answer yes. It is this mindset that itself poses a huge risk to the future of our planet. Professor Heidi Toivonen of Twente university said “Climate change might push people towards a sense of complete loss of agency, the feeling that there is nothing we can do, especially as the question of whether it is already too late to prevent dangerous climate change is discussed in serious science circles” (Broom, 2023).  The most powerful thing we can do is to come together and work together to prevent a worsening of climate change. Great progress has been made since the signing of the 2016 Paris Agreement, with significant steps taken such as, of course, the High Seas Treaty. The answer to whether it is too late to stop climate change is no, but we must act together, raise awareness, petition our leaders and protect our oceans now.  

References

Albert, D. (2024, April 24). EU’s Approval to Ratify the High Seas Treaty: 101 Explainer – High Seas Alliance. High Seas Alliance. https://highseasalliance.org/2024/04/24/eus-approval-to-ratify-the-high-seas-treaty-101-explainer/ 

Broom, D. (2023, June 19). Too late to save the planet? Why this climate crisis myth is so prevalent – and problematic. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/06/too-late-climate-crisis-myth/ 

High Seas Alliance. (2024a). About the High Seas Alliance. High Seas Alliance. https://highseasalliance.org/about-us/ 

High Seas Alliance. (2024b). High Seas Treaty Progress Table. High Seas Alliance Treaty Ratification. https://highseasalliance.org/treaty-ratification/table-of-countries/

National Geographic. (2023, October 19). Ocean | National Geographic Society. Education.nationalgeographic.org. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ocean/ 

Oppenheimer M et al. (2019). Sea level rise and implications for low lying islands, coasts and communities, in IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/. 

United Nations. (2021). How is climate change impacting the world’s ocean. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/ocean-impacts 

‌United Nations. (2023, June 19). Beyond borders: Why new “high seas” treaty is critical for the world | UN News. News.un.org. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/06/1137857 

United Nations. (2023). Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction. https://www.un.org/bbnjagreement/en/bbnj-agreement/about-agreement