physics

High Seas Treaty

High Seas Treaty is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand High Seas Treaty rather than just read about it. In short: The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction or BBNJ Agreement, commonly known as the High Seas Treaty, is a legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. It is an agreement under the United…

Key takeaways

High Seas Treaty belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect High Seas Treaty to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of High Seas Treaty from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction or BBNJ Agreement, commonly known as the High Seas Treaty, is a legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. It is an agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The text was finalised during an intergovernmental conference at the UN on 4 March 2023 and adopted on 19 June 2023. For entering into force, the treaty needed to be ratified by at least 60 UN member states. On 19 September 2025, Morocco became the 60th country to ratify the agreement, setting the stage for its entry into force in January 2026. In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted to convene an intergovernmental conference (IGC) to consider establishing an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). This was considered necessary because UNCLOS did not provide a framework for areas beyond national jurisdiction. There was a particular concern for marine biodiversity and the impact of overfishing on global fish stocks and ecosystem stability. The treaty addresses four themes: (1) marine genetic resources (MGRs) and their digital sequence information (genetic data), including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits; (2) area-based management tools (ABMTs), including marine protected areas (MPAs); (3) environmental impact assessments (EIAs); and (4) capacity building and transfer of marine technology (CB&TMT). The area-based management tools and environmental impact assessments relate mainly to conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, while the marine genetic resources and capacity building and transfer of marine technology include issues of economic justice and equity. Greenpeace called it "the biggest conservation victory ever". The main achievement is the new possibility to create marine protected areas in international waters. By doing so the agreement now makes it possible to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030 (part of the 30 by 30 target). Though the agreement does not directly address climate change, it also serves as a step towards protecting the ecosystems that store carbon in sediments. The High Seas Treaty has 76 articles and two annexes. One of its main aims is "to act as stewards of the ocean in areas beyond national jurisdiction on behalf of present and future generations by protecting, caring for and ensuring responsible use of the marine environment, maintaining the integrity of ocean ecosystems and conserving the inherent value of biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction". The Agreement recognizes traditional knowledge. It has articles regarding the "polluter-pays" principle, and different impacts of human activities including areas beyond the national jurisdiction of the countries making those activities. The agreement was adopted by the 193 United Nations Member States. Both states and regional economic integration organizations can become parties to the Agreement. The former treaty, UNCLOS, was adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994. As of October 2024, UNCLOS has 170 parties. The European Union pledged financial support for the process of ratification and implementation of the treaty.

Context

The world's oceans are facing a severe decline in biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems due to threats related to climate change and the expansion of human activities, such as shipping, overfishing, plastic pollution and deep-sea mining. Consequently, there is a pressing need for a more cohesive ocean governance framework, since the existing framework is too fragmented and incomplete to effectively secure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The High Seas treaty aims to address the regulatory gaps, by promoting coherence and coordination with and among existing institutions, frameworks, and bodies. Areas beyond national jurisdiction comprise the 'high seas' (water column beyond the national jurisdiction of countries) and the 'area' (international seabed area), making up about two-thirds of the ocean. The areas are currently regulated by different regional and sectoral agreements, such as regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs). However, they can only implement measures within their own respective mandates and cooperation is lacking. Additionally, only a few areas are covered, leaving the majority effectively unregulated. The remaining one-third of the ocean falls under national jurisdiction and is situated within the exclusive economic zones (EEZs). The exclusive economic zones extend 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) from the territorial sea baseline. The zones are established under UNCLOS, giving coastal states the jurisdiction over the living and non-living resources within the water and the seabeds. The common name "High Seas Treaty" has been criticized by some as inaccurate and omitting biodiversity.

History A new agreement under UNCLOS for areas beyond national jurisdiction has been discussed at the United Nations for almost 20 years. The United Nations began preparatory meetings in 2004 to lay the foundation for an Implementing Agreement to UNCLOS addressing governance and regulatory gaps. On 24 December 2017, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 72/249 to convene an intergovernmental conference and undertake formal negotiations for a new international legally binding instrument under the UNCLOS for the conservation and sustainable development of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Between 2018 and 2023, diplomats have gathered at the UN Headquarters in New York City for negotiating sessions. There have so far been five sessions in total. The intergovernmental conference (IGC) convened a total of five sessions in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023 to negotiate the text for the BBNJ legal instrument: During the first session in September 2018, the concept of 'Beyond National Jurisdiction' seemed to have a greater influence on positions taken than the direct concerns regarding 'Biodiversity' itself.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with High Seas Treaty

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what High Seas Treaty claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to High Seas Treaty before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about High Seas Treaty ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of High Seas Treaty

In research: High Seas Treaty appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses High Seas Treaty in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: High Seas Treaty is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2023 in international relations, Anti-biopiracy treaties, Biopiracy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for High Seas Treaty outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study High Seas Treaty in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what High Seas Treaty means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain High Seas Treaty out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is High Seas Treaty in simple terms?

Why does High Seas Treaty matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study High Seas Treaty?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on High Seas Treaty.