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After decades in which the high seas were too often treated as a distant frontier—vast, ownerless and beyond meaningful protection—the High Seas Treaty entered into force on 17 January 2026.
It was a landmark achievement for international cooperation and a reminder that, even in an increasingly divided world, nations can still come together in defence of the common good. But celebration must not be confused with protection.
A treaty on paper will not restore depleted marine life. It will not prevent harmful activities, ensure that the benefits of ocean science are shared fairly or secure a healthy ocean for future generations unless the international community provides the resources, institutions, scientific capacity and political courage needed to make it work. That is the real test now before us.
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty, establishes a framework for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It addresses four essential areas: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources; marine protected areas and other area-based management tools; environmental impact assessments; and capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology.
These areas are critical to securing the future of the global ocean—and, by extension, the future of every nation whose climate, food security, economy and heritage depend upon it.
For small island developing states, the ocean is our climate regulator, our food source, our economic space, our history and our future. We do not see the sea as a faraway expanse beyond our borders. We live with it every day. We prosper or suffer according to its health.
During my years as President of Seychelles, this understanding shaped my conviction that the ocean had to be placed at the centre of national development. Seychelles chose to pursue a blue-economy vision at a time when the concept was less familiar than it is today. We worked to protect large areas of our maritime space, advanced marine spatial planning and explored innovative approaches to ocean finance, including debt-for-nature arrangements and the blue bond.
Our actions were not driven by the illusion that a small island nation could fix a global crisis single-handedly. Rather, they reflected a core conviction: true leadership belongs not only to the largest landmasses, the richest economies or the most dominant militaries.
We may be a small island state in terms of land area, but we are a vast ocean nation. We possess a wealth of experience, strategic maritime vision and deep resolve. It is this spirit—proving that stewardship is measured by commitment rather than geographic size—that must anchor and define the High Seas Treaty.
The treaty rightly recognises the special circumstances of developing states, including small island developing states and coastal African states. It acknowledges that access to data, research, equipment, technical knowledge, monitoring systems and trained personnel is essential if all countries are to participate meaningfully in ocean governance.
But this principle must now be honoured in practice.
Too often, developing countries are invited to global negotiations only to discover that the real advantages remain concentrated elsewhere—locked away in distant laboratories, research vessels, satellites and data systems. If the benefits arising from marine genetic resources are to be genuinely shared, then access to the knowledge and tools required to understand and use those resources must also be shared.
The ocean cannot become another arena in which wealthier nations draw the greatest benefits while poorer and more vulnerable countries are asked merely to endorse the rules.
The first Conference of the Parties for the High Seas Treaty, scheduled to take place in early January 2027, will be a critical moment. It must not become a narrow exercise in procedure or a meeting dominated by those already best equipped to influence outcomes.
It should establish an implementation culture based on ambition, inclusion and urgency. It must ensure that the financial mechanism is strong enough to support developing countries, that scientific cooperation is meaningful, and that capacity-building is not reduced to occasional workshops or vague promises.
The treaty’s decision-making body is expected to convene within its first year in force, making the coming months decisive in shaping this new era of ocean governance.
There is another important lesson here. The world has too often separated environmental protection from development, as though nations must choose between conserving nature and improving the lives of their people.
For island states, this is a false choice.
A healthy ocean is development. It supports fisheries and livelihoods. It protects coastlines. It regulates the climate. It sustains tourism, culture and communities. It offers scientific discoveries that may help humanity confront disease, food insecurity and environmental change.
To protect the ocean is not to turn away from progress. It is to redefine progress so that it can endure.
This is why the High Seas Treaty matters so deeply. It offers a chance to move beyond a culture of reaction—responding only after a fishery declines, a species disappears, a reef bleaches or an ecosystem is damaged beyond repair.
It gives the international community an opportunity to act with greater foresight: to assess environmental risks before they are allowed to grow, to establish protected areas before the last refuge is lost, and to place stewardship alongside opportunity.
But no agreement, however historic, can substitute for political will.
The treaty will need champions: governments willing to invest in its success; scientists willing to share knowledge; institutions prepared to support fair access; civil society determined to hold leaders accountable; and young people who refuse to accept that the ocean’s future should be decided without them.
Seychelles has long believed that the world must see the ocean not as a boundary between nations, but as the great connector of humanity. That belief is even more urgent today.
The high seas belong to no single country, yet their condition affects us all. The High Seas Treaty is therefore more than a legal instrument. It is a test of whether multilateralism can still respond to challenges that no nation can solve alone.
The ocean has a law. Now the world must give it life. Source: IPS News