The so-called High Seas Treaty is no longer a diplomatic promise; it is now law. Formally known as the BBNJ Agreement, it was adopted on 19 June 2023 and entered into force on 17 January 2026 as the third implementing agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Its reach is enormous: it governs marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, zones that cover more than two-thirds of the ocean’s surface and over 90 percent of Earth’s habitable volume. More importantly, it gives the world a legal toolbox that did not previously exist in one place: rules on marine genetic resources and benefit-sharing, marine protected areas and other area-based measures, environmental impact assessments, and capacity-building with technology transfer. (un.org)

Yet entry into force does not mean instant salvation. Even after January 2026, governments were still constructing the treaty’s operating system. At the third Preparatory Commission session, held from 23 March to 2 April 2026, negotiators worked on rules of procedure, financial rules, subsidiary bodies, secretariat arrangements, the Clearing-House Mechanism, and cooperation with other institutions. On 6 April 2026, the UN said that the session had closed with renewed commitment to implementation and that the first Conference of the Parties is scheduled for 11–22 January 2027. In other words, the restructuring of ocean governance has clearly begun, but its machinery is still being assembled. (un.org)

That is why the treaty’s promise and its weakness are inseparable. Its promise lies in collective stewardship: the high seas are no longer treated only as a space of freedom, but increasingly as an ecosystem requiring common rules. Its weakness lies in institutional complexity. The agreement is designed to work with existing legal instruments and sectoral bodies rather than override them, and the UN’s own implementation documents repeatedly stress cooperation and coordination with those bodies. That makes the treaty politically viable, but it may also slow decisive conservation when the interests of fishing, shipping, and seabed exploitation collide. (un.org)

So, can the treaty protect the ocean? Yes—but only if states turn legal architecture into political action. The treaty has already started to attract new parties even after entry into force, with accessions and ratifications continuing into 2026. That is encouraging. But the real test will come when countries must choose, case by case, whether to privilege short-term extraction or long-term planetary governance. (treaties.un.org)