THEDeep sea, where everyone claims the right to do everything, is finally protected area. THE'agreement on protection was reached at the UN Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity in New York after 15 years of negotiations and now opens up new perspectives for fishery, the Sustainable Developmentmarine species. We are talking about a very large area that it occupies two thirds of the ocean and whose protection it has been discussed since 2004. Therefore, the way of fishing, navigating, doing research in areas that do not fall within the competence of individual states is changing. Economy and environment in a new summary. "The current convention on the Law of the Sea, dated 1982 (UNCLOS) has divided marine areas into various sectors according to the distance from the coast - he explains to FIRSTonline Sandro Carniel, oceanologist, Research Director of the Institute of Polar Sciences of the CNR, author of over 250 publications. «For example, within 200 miles each country can decide how to exploit, but also how to conserve and manage natural marine resources. Everything beyond these areas was considered as a common good, a sort of collective heritage of humanity" What does it mean ? "It means that in theory in the deep seas which are 2 thirds of all the world's ocean waters, everyone has the right to fish, to transit, to do scientific research". These were noble intentions «yes, but in fact technology has made the deep seas areas of savage conquest, no real rules. THEImagine the international disputes, in areas that in fact have become everyone's when there's something to gain, but nobody's when it comes to cleaning», adds Carniel. After 40 years only about 1 percent of these huge marine spaces have been protected. The activities are carried out essentially without worrying about what is in the seabed. Not surprisingly with the melting glaciers in the Arctic Ocean are shooting the drillings of companies thousands of kilometers deep looking for hydrocarbons.
The agreement on the High Seas: what it establishes
The environmental and economic effects of the UN agreement have 2030 as their first objective. This is why we speak of "30×30", i.e. protect a third of biodiversity world – land and sea – by 2030. What is not lacking in these days is satisfaction with the result achieved. "It is a victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends affecting ocean health, now and for generations to come," said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. For fifteen days, government representatives debated what would bind them. In the end, they succeeded even if the actual application of the treaty will not be short.
Positive reactions also in Brussels with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen who said "now there is protection of the ocean beyond national jurisdictions". For the Commissioner for the environment Virginijus Sinkevicius ", is a historic agreement, an important step to achieve the COP15 goal on the protection of the oceans". Everyone will have the right to fish, to do research, but with the simultaneous responsibility of protect the sea and ensure sustainable management of resources. From this point of view the agreement is judged as a historic success by Greenpeace, who was one of the protagonists, and other environmental organizations. The WWF he says the treaty will allow for the creation of marine protected areas and fill the gaps in the current patchwork of management bodies. There will be improvement of cooperation and a minor cumulative impact of activities such as navigation, the industrial fishing and the exploitation of other resources.
But, once the lights on the political agreement have been turned off, will this actually be the case? "The objective of this new treaty is to protect, in the form of Marine Protected Areas, 30% of the deep seas, to allow marine ecosystems to recover - replies Carniel - because in recent decades they have been undermined by overfishing, pollution, by a growing exploitation of seabed resources, made possible also thanks to the development of marine technology, by climate change".
An ambitious agreement, which risks must be addressed by 2030
But is 30 percent feasible in a few years Prof. Carniel? «Frankly, it seems a very ambitious value that risks remaining on paper. It really depends on what you really mean by Marine Protected Area, what the effective level of protection will be, how quickly the countries will ratify the convention to bring it into force, and above all it depends on how many economic resources will actually be invested, by how the Protected Areas will be connected to each other».
“What happens on the High Seas will no longer be out of sight, out of mind” it has also been said. But the other qualifying and verified point is the correlation between the global blue economy and sustainable development. “The ocean is intrinsically linked to major global issues such as climate change and food security, human health and the global economy. – He said to theOcean&Climate Village of Naples Frances Santoroof the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. "Understanding its value can improve the protection, conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources, as well as contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals", the same ones set by the UN. “In short, it is a historical day yes – concludes Carriel – but there's also the big risk that it's just a little hot broth, which arrives too late”.
