The UK will introduce legislation by the end of the year to ratify the UN High Seas Treaty, the Government has announced.
Marine Minister Emma Hardy said on Tuesday that the Government will introduce a bill to enable ratification of the pact to establish protected areas in international waters.
The ocean treaty, which was agreed by 193 countries two years ago, will not come into force until ratification by 60 countries, but just over half of that number have done so.
The UK Government is among those that have been previously criticised by environmentalists for not yet ratifying the treaty or announcing a timetable to introduce the legislation required.
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the treaty will provide the “first legal mechanism for the creation of protected areas in international waters”, helping to conserve marine life in parts of the ocean outside national jurisdiction – which is approximately two-thirds of the world’s ocean.
Ms Hardy said: “Our oceans are dying. Without urgent action, they will be irreversibly destroyed.
“That is why the UK will introduce legislation by the end of the year to ratify the High Seas Treaty, a landmark in protecting marine life around the globe.”
The announcement comes as the third UN Ocean Conference began in France on Monday.
Governments, business leaders, scientists and campaigners are attending the environmental summit in Nice where the spotlight will be on the commitments individual governments make to reduce the impact on their territorial waters, such as banning the practice of bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs).
Bottom trawling and other forms of destructive fishing are permitted in UK waters but conservationists have long been campaigning for a full ban across all marine protected areas.
Defra said the Government has proposed to ban bottom trawling in more MPAs in English waters.
The department said MPAs will “help conserve rare, valuable and important marine life of the high seas, enhancing their resilience to stressors such as unsustainable fishing and industrial activities, helping them to recover faster”.
There are 181 MPAs, including three highly protected marine areas (HPMAs), covering 93,000 square kilometres or 40% of English waters.
The UK also joined more than 90 countries at the conference in reiterating its commitment to agreeing a Plastic Pollution Treaty when negotiations resume in Geneva in August.
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