High Seas Treaty Takes Effect

With Morocco’s ratification, the UN High Seas Treaty crosses 60 signatories and enters into force, allowing vast marine protected areas on the high seas and setting a target to protect 30% by 2030. It replaces a patchwork of sectoral rules (fishing, oil, shipping) with a comprehensive conservation framework just as deep‑sea mining eyes international waters. — This creates a new global legal tool that can reshape ocean industry, biodiversity protection, and climate policy across nearly half the planet’s surface.