The United Kingdom could be excluded from the first Ocean Cop summit due to delays in ratifying the UN's high seas treaty, environmental charities have warned. The treaty, formally known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, comes into force on Saturday after two decades of negotiations.
Although the UK signed the treaty, the bill to ratify it—introduced last September—has yet to complete its passage through parliament. In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, 18 UK environmental charities condemned the “glacial pace” of progress and urged the government to pass the bill at least 30 days before the first Ocean Cop, which could take place as early as August this year.
The letter notes that the UK is not among the 81 countries, including China, France, Japan, Spain, Mexico, and Brazil, that have already ratified the treaty. “It would be a failure of leadership to miss it,” the charities stated. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill is due for its third reading in the House of Lords on Monday.
The high seas cover nearly half the planet but have lacked a legal framework for biodiversity protection. The new treaty enables the creation of marine protected areas and sets obligations for sustainable use of ocean resources. A Foreign Office spokesperson said the government is committed to ratifying the treaty quickly through the standard democratic process.
