Much of our planet lies beyond the control of nation states and their laws. These international waters, commonly known as the high seas, cover a vast swath of ocean that takes in 43% of the surface of the planet. Blue Marine Foundation’s goal has become to protect 30 per cent by 2030, a scientifically-based ambition echoed by the UK government in September 2018. It is impossible to reach this target without a global, legally-binding mechanism to protect the high seas, such as the one currently under negotiation at the United Nations. If the world can arrive at a “Paris Agreement for the Oceans,” 2020 will be the year that it happens.
At the historic COP21 of the Climate Convention in Paris, it was a ‘high ambition coalition’ of countries that united to drive through an agreement. BLUE believes that a comparable achievement is possible in the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction negotiations and onwards towards 30 per cent of ocean protected by 2030. We also believe that the UK has a leading role to play in both defining the ambition and creating a coalition. To help catalyse that ambition, Blue Marine has produced a vision for the high seas.
