Overview

• Morocco and Sierra Leone provided the decisive ratifications on Friday, activating the entry‑into‑force clock confirmed by the UN Treaty Section.
• The agreement’s central mechanism enables a Conference of the Parties to create science‑based high‑seas marine protected areas, with decisions by consensus or a three‑quarters vote if blocked.
• Parties must require environmental impact assessments for activities with effects deemed more than “minor and transitory,” and the treaty institutes fair, equitable sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources.
• Implementation will need coordination with existing ocean bodies, notably regional fisheries organizations and the International Seabed Authority, where seabed‑mining rules remain unsettled.
• Effectiveness may be constrained by reluctance from major maritime powers such as Russia and the United States, and a recent U.S. push to accelerate deep‑sea mining permits adds jurisdictional complications.