UN ocean treaty summit collapses as states accused of dragging out talks

Chinese trawlers in the Pacific near Micronesia. As less than 2% of the high seas are protected, a scientist said it meant ‘high risk for the health of the ocean’. Photograph: imageBroker/Alamy

UN member states have failed to agree on a treaty to protect the high seas from exploitation, with scientists, environmentalists and conservation organisations blaming states that were “dragging their feet” for the “glacial pace” of talks.

The longer the negotiations took, the more wildlife would be lost from the ocean, they warned, urging ministers and heads of state to work together with the president of the UN high seas conference to speed up a further round of negotiations to close a “governance vacuum” on the high seas.