The High Seas Treaty in force: what applies now and what waits for the first COP

What applies from 17 January 2026

The Agreement on marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (the BBNJ Agreement), adopted on 19 June 2023[3], entered into force on Saturday 17 January 2026, 120 days after the sixtieth ratification[1]. The United Nations counted 81 ratifications on 15 January; the High Seas Alliance counted 82 on 14 January, without the Union's own instrument[1][2]. It covers the high seas and the international seabed area, which together make up over two thirds of the ocean's surface[1]. The Secretary-General said that the Agreement "fills a critical governance gap"[1]. Only Parties are bound. A signatory that has not ratified is committed only to refrain from acts that would defeat the Agreement's objectives[4].

Several obligations apply without any further decision. The first concerns environmental impact assessment. Article 28(1) requires a Party to apply the Agreement's procedure before it authorises an activity in areas beyond national jurisdiction that falls under its jurisdiction or control. Article 30 sets the threshold for a full assessment: the Party must have reasonable grounds for believing that the planned activity may cause substantial pollution of the marine environment. Article 31 lays down the steps of screening, scoping, assessment and mitigation[5]. The second concerns marine genetic resources. Article 12 requires a Party to notify the Clearing-House Mechanism before collection, with the material and the geographical area concerned, and it requires the results of utilisation to be shared through the same mechanism[5]. The Agreement also prohibits any claim of sovereignty over those resources and provides that activities must be carried out in the interests of all States and for the benefit of all humanity[5]. Benefit-sharing exists in principle from day one. Article 14(7) nevertheless leaves the modalities of monetary benefit-sharing, such as milestone payments and royalties, to the Conference of the Parties[5].

The same division applies to marine protected areas. A proposal must come from a Party, and the Party must consult scientists, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and the private sector. The criteria for identifying such areas are for the Conference of the Parties to adopt under Articles 19(5) and (6), as are the standards and guidelines for environmental impact assessment under Article 38(1)[5]. Dispute settlement is available immediately under Article 60, before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Court of Justice or an arbitral tribunal[5].

The road to the first Conference of the Parties

Article 47(2) requires the Secretary-General to convene the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties no later than one year after entry into force. The General Assembly, in resolution 80/107, has asked him to convene it by 17 January 2027[10]. No date has been set[4]. The Preparatory Commission, established under General Assembly resolution 78/272, met in April and August 2025. Its third session will run from 23 March to 2 April 2026 at United Nations Headquarters in New York[4][10].

The second session left the hard questions open. The rules of procedure remain unresolved on meeting frequency, observers, virtual participation and the composition of the Bureau. The seat of the secretariat is undecided; Belgium and Chile have expressed interest in hosting it. The financial rules, the memorandum of understanding with the Global Environment Facility and the terms of reference of the Special Fund are all pending[6]. On the memorandum, the Union, with Norway, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, argued that the reporting, periodic review and independent assessment clauses were overly prescriptive. Developing countries asked for guaranteed access to funds and for guaranteed seats for least developed countries and small island developing States[6]. Only Parties will have a say at the first meeting[4]. The two bodies that will make the Agreement work, the Scientific and Technical Body and the Clearing-House Mechanism, still have to be constituted[4]. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission says that "without science, the treaty cannot succeed"[11].

The Union's position and its gaps

The Union ratified on 28 May 2025, together with Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal and Slovenia. France and Spain had ratified earlier in the year[7]. The Union leads the BBNJ High Ambition Coalition with Palau and Seychelles, and it has pledged EUR 40 million through a Global Ocean Programme to help African, Caribbean and Pacific partners ratify and implement the Agreement[7]. On 24 April 2025 the Commission proposed to integrate the Agreement into Union law[7]. Through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund the Union finances four items. They are a study on area-based management tools (EUR 550,000), an informal expert group on early implementation (EUR 400,000), a study on a batch identifier for the traceability of marine genetic resources (EUR 350,000) and the secretariat of the High Ambition Coalition (EUR 300,000)[8]. The Commission says it will prepare Union legislation on marine genetic resources, on environmental impact assessment and on legal coherence in ocean governance[8].

The gap is at home. Germany is not a Party. Its ratification and implementation bills had their first reading in the Bundestag in the week of entry into force[9]. A Member State that is not a Party has no vote at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties[4]. For a generation that grew up with the target of protecting 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030, the stakes are practical. Existing high seas protected areas cover less than one per cent of the high seas, and the first areas under the Agreement can only be designated once the Conference of the Parties has adopted the procedure[4][5].

We recommend four steps. The Member States that have not yet ratified, Germany first, should deposit their instruments before 23 March 2026, so that they attend the third session of the Preparatory Commission as Parties. The Union should table at that session a compromise on the Global Environment Facility memorandum that accepts periodic review in exchange for the early operation of the Special Fund. The Commission should publish its proposal on marine genetic resources before the first Conference of the Parties, so that the Union arrives with a working notification regime under Article 12. The Union and its Member States should prepare, with partner States, a first proposal for a marine protected area in the Atlantic, ready for tabling as soon as the Conference of the Parties adopts the procedure under Article 19.