The European Union Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, praised this Sunday the agreement reached at the United Nations to protect the high seas and said that it is “a historic moment” for the preservation of the oceans.
“We are taking a crucial step towards the preservation of marine life and biodiversity that are essential for us and future generations,” the commissioner said in a statement to Agence France Presse.
Virginijus Sinkevicius stressed that “this day marks the culmination of more than a decade of preparatory work and international negotiations in which the European Union has played a key role”.
The member states of the United Nations Organization (UN) reached an agreement this Saturday to establish a treaty to protect the high seas, after more than 15 years of negotiations.
A consensus was reached after a marathon of negotiations that began on February 20 and was supposed to end on Friday, but continued overnight into Saturday, with more than 35 hours of ongoing discussions.
The document defines, among other things, the bases for the establishment of marine protected areas, which should facilitate the international commitment to safeguard at least 30% of the oceans by 2030.
The formal adoption of the treaty, however, will have to wait until a group of technicians ensures the uniformity of the terms used in the document and that it is translated into the six official languages of the UN.
“This is a historic day for conservation and a sign that, in a divided world, protecting nature and people can trump geopolitics,” said Laura Meller of the environmental group Greenpeace, in a first reaction.
Source: TSF
