Overview

• Fifty-one states have ratified the high seas treaty, leaving nine more to reach the 60 required for entry into force by January 2026.
• France’s French Polynesia, Colombia, Samoa, Tanzania and São Tomé and Príncipe unveiled new marine protected areas spanning over a million square kilometres.
• Over 90 countries backed a declaration at Nice to curb plastic pollution and press ahead with a global plastics treaty.
• Delegates criticised the United States’ fast-tracking of deep-sea mining as a 37-nation alliance against seabed exploitation gained momentum.
• Conference observers lamented the absence of major financial pledges from wealthy governments and faulted the closing statement for ignoring fossil fuels.