Overview
- After reaching 60 ratifications on September 19, 2025 and a 120‑day wait, the treaty entered into force on January 17, 2026, with about 83 ratifications and 145 signatories.
- The accord enables high‑seas marine protected areas, requires benefit‑sharing for marine genetic resources, and prioritizes capacity‑building and technology transfer for developing states.
- Immediate duties include environmental impact assessments, transparency on planned activities, and advancing the treaty’s conservation goals in bodies such as RFMOs, the IMO and the International Seabed Authority.
- Institutional architecture is still being built as the Preparatory Committee works toward a first Conference of the Parties within a year to establish the secretariat, scientific body and procedures.
- The United States has signed but not ratified and will participate as an observer, China and Japan have ratified, and campaigners like Greenpeace are pressing governments to move quickly to meet the 30x30 goal, with proposals for sites such as the Sargasso Sea and the Emperor seamounts already under discussion.