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New York - The UN Ocean Agreement talks are on the brink of collapse due to the greed of the High Ambition Coalition countries and other countries like Canada and the United States. They have prioritized hypothetical future gains from marine genetic resources over ocean protection[1]. This undermines the progress made in the treaty text on marine protected areas, and talks will now stall.
The High Ambition Coalition risks failing miserably on its commitments to protect the oceans and conclude a treaty in 2022[2]. Not only do they fail to secure a deal in this round of negotiations, but the text is fading in ambition by the minute. We are facing a treaty that will struggle to reach 30×30 and takes an unfair and neo-colonial approach by refusing to provide funding for the benefit of all countries.
Laura Meller from the Greenpeace campaign "Protect the Oceans" from New York[3]:
“The oceans sustain all life on earth, but the greed of a few countries means this round of talks for a UN ocean deal is now doomed. The High Ambition Coalition failed utterly. They should be the No Ambition Coalition. They became obsessed with their hypothetical future gains and undermined any other advances made in these talks. If ministers don't call their counterparts urgently today and reach an agreement, this treaty process will fail.'
“Less than two months ago I was in Lisbon at the UN Ocean Conference listening to promises from these leaders that they would present a strong global ocean treaty this year. Now we are in New York and the guides are nowhere to be found. They broke their promises.”
"We are sad and angry. Billions of people depend on healthy oceans, and world leaders have failed them all. It now looks impossible to protect 30% of the world's oceans. Scientists say this is the bare minimum needed to protect the oceans, and failure of these talks will threaten the livelihoods and food security of billions. We are more than disappointed.”
The lack of high-level political commitment at these talks has paralyzed them from the start, but in recent days it has become clear that the High Ambition Coalition's and other countries' refusal to support financial commitments, no matter how small, is about to end that there is no contract here. These countries include Canada and the United States.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez warned at the UNO Ocean Conference in Lisbon in June that the "selfishness" of some countries was impeding the progress of these talks. At the same conference, countries pledged at the highest political level to sign a strong treaty. They have not fulfilled their obligations.
If no deal is agreed in 2022, the delivery of the 30×30, protecting 30% of the world's oceans by 2030, will become virtually impossible.
Two full days of negotiations remain. With the talks doomed to failure, countries must act now, showing flexibility and finding compromises to come up with a strong treaty text tomorrow. Ministers must also call their counterparts to negotiate an agreement or the talks will collapse.
[1] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.667274/full
[2] https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/ocean/international-ocean-governance/protecting-ocean-time-action_en
[3] Laura Meller is an ocean activist and policy advisor at Greenpeace Nordic.
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Photos: Greenpeace
