Two endangered entities — marine life and multilateralism — got a big weekend boost when the United Nations announced a significant new treaty to better protect ocean biodiversity.
The tentative pact reached Saturday would establish protocols for creating new protected portions of international waters. It covers two-thirds of the sea's surface beyond the waters generally controlled by nations — about 200 nautical miles from their shores. This area, crucial for preserving Earth's fragile ecosystem, is threatened by multiple factors, including overfishing, shipping, mining and the scourge of global pollution.
Only about 1.2% of the area is under environmental protection now. The U.N. agreement would establish the process for proposing new marine protection areas to maintain the ecological diversity required by the oceans — and, often, humans — not just for food but potentially medicine, making it essential that the pact establishes initial guidelines on how profits from such a discovery could be shared with developing nations.
