NEWS

1. Nations Ratify First Global Treaty to Protect Ocean Life.

2. Major Shipping Firms Warns Net Zero Plan Could Cost Over $300 Billion by 2035.

1. Sep 19, 2025 (Bloomberg) –As climate impacts multiply, a landmark United Nations treaty to protect ocean lifewill go into effect in January.

   
   

   Sierra Leone and Morocco on Friday provided the final of the 60 votes needed to ratify the accord on the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources, ending a process that started in September 2023. The US signed the treaty under the former President Joe Biden’s administration, but President Donald Trump’s administration has opposed its ratification.

   
   

   When the high seas biodiversity treaty enters into force in January 2026, it will transform how countries, corporations and scientific organizations do business in the 60% of the ocean beyond any nation’s jurisdiction.

   
   

   The treaty provides for, among other things, establishing marine protected areas in international waters. A requirement that environmental impact assessments be conducted for activities that could have a harmful or an unknown impact on the high seas goes into effect amid growing interest in using the ocean to absorb and store carbon dioxide. Under the treaty, marine genetic resources — which include marine molecules, bacteria and algae — are designated as the common heritage of humankind whose bounty is to be shared among nations.

   
   

   The treaty also creates institutions for implementation, including a secretariat to manage day-to-day affairs and a scientific and technical body that will review environmental impact assessments and proposals to create marine protected areas and advise on other matters. Final decisions will be made by member states meeting periodically. (The treaty does not regulate fishing on the high seas, which is managed by other international organizations.)

   
   

   The high seas biodiversity treaty is the most far-ranging ocean agreement since the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which regulates activities in international waters, including seabed mining. While the law of the sea treaty doesn’t mention the word “biodiversity,” the new agreement specifies modern threats to marine life that include plastic pollution, climate-caused ocean acidification and deoxygenation.

   
   

   “This is a major win for our oceans and all of us who depend on them. The high seas belong both to no one and to all of us,” Monica Medina, a fellow at Conservation International and former US Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, said in a statement.

   
   

   The ratification comes as the Trump administration has authorized the licensing of deep sea mining for critical minerals in international waters that fall under the jurisdiction of a UN-affiliated organization.

2. A group of shipping firms warned that the International Maritime Organization’s planned net zero rules risk imposing significant costs on the industry.

   
   

   The IMO, shipping’s global regulator, has set a goal of net zero for shipping by mid-century and next month aims to formally adopt a plan that would see ships pay levies for at least some of their emissions. The US has criticized the IMO’s Net Zero Framework, labeling it a “global carbon tax.”

   
   

   The sector faces paying about $20 billion to $30 billion a year by 2030, shippers representing more than 1,200 vessels said in a statement dated Thursday. The amount could accumulate to more than $300 billion by 2035 if the global fleet misses targets by as little as 10%, they said.

   
   

   Despite opposition from the US, a majority of countries backed the proposal in an IMO vote earlier this year. The International Chamber of Shipping, which represents more than 80% of the planet’s merchant fleet, also supports the plan.

   
   

   The IMO’s NZF won’t be effective in helping shipping decarbonize in line with the IMO’s strategy announced in 2023 or ensuring a level playing field, the group of shippers said in the statement. Critical amendments “are needed, including the consideration of realistic trajectories.”

   
   

   “It is essential that the IMO NZF implements GHG measures that are fit for purpose,” the group of companies, which includes Stolt Tankers, Frontline Plc and Saudi Arabia’s Bahri, said. It said measures should avoid “excessive financial burdens and inflationary pressure to the end-consumer.”