UN Oceans Treaty: Leaders Make Fifth Attempt To Sign Pact

World leaders will meet at the UN in New York later for more talks to save the world’s oceans from overexploitation.

The UN High Seas Treaty has been through 10 years of negotiations but has yet to be signed.

If agreed, it would put 30% of the world’s oceans into conservation areas by 2030.

Campaigners hope it will protect marine life from overfishing and other human activities.

Two-thirds of the world’s oceans are currently considered international waters, which mean all countries have a right to fish, ship and do research there. But only 1.2% of these high seas, as they are referred to, are protected.

This leaves the marine life living outside those areas at risk of exploitation from the increasing threats of overfishing and shipping traffic.

And with ecosystems in the high seas poorly documented, there is concern among conservationists that creatures could become extinct before they are discovered.

Research published earlier this year, and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, suggests that between 10% and 15% of marine species are already at risk of extinction.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has said at previous negotiations that the “traditional fragmented nature of ocean governance” has prevented the effective protection of the high seas.