High Seas Treaty: Germany Joins as 94 Countries Have Now Ratified

The High Seas Treaty has been in force since January 2026, and the list of countries behind it keeps growing. On 22 September 2026 Germany deposited its instrument of ratification at the United Nations, bringing the total to 94 states plus the European Union. The first meeting of the parties is set for January 2027. Here is what the treaty covers, who has signed up and when the first protected areas could follow.

Germany is now a party.

German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider handed over the ratification documents on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. He called the treaty “the greatest international environmental policy success of recent years”. Germany had already passed a national High Seas Protection Act in spring 2026, so the rules become binding for German actors on 21 October 2026, thirty days after accession. From then on, ships flying the German flag and German research teams working on the high seas have to follow them.

Germany matters here as one of Europe’s larger maritime and marine research nations. Many EU member states have now ratified, alongside the EU itself.

What the treaty does.

Its official name is the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, usually shortened to BBNJ. It applies to the ocean beyond the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zones of coastal states, about two thirds of the world’s ocean and roughly half of the planet’s surface. Before it, only around one percent of that area was protected.

The treaty rests on four parts:

• Marine protected areas on the high seas, which could not be created before because no state had the authority.
• Environmental impact assessments for activities planned in these waters.
• Marine genetic resources, meaning rules for samples of marine organisms and for sharing the benefits of research based on them.
• Capacity building and technology transfer to support poorer countries in the Global South.

Who has ratified and who has not.

The treaty needed 60 ratifications to enter into force. That threshold was reached in September 2025, and it took effect on 17 January 2026. By 22 September 2026, 94 states had ratified, among them China, many small island states and a large part of the EU. For an international agreement, that is fast.

The United States has not ratified. Critics also point to open questions: the treaty contains no strong enforcement mechanism, and how protected areas will be financed and policed on waters that belong to no one is still unresolved.

When the first protected areas could come.

The first Conference of the Parties, often called the Ocean COP, is planned for January 2027 in New York. It will deal with procedures and funding. According to the German Environment Ministry, the first marine protected areas are expected to be designated only at later meetings. Germany says it is already working with partners in Africa, South America and Asia on first proposals.

The wider target comes from the 2022 Global Biodiversity Framework: 30 percent of the world’s ocean should be protected by 2030.

What it means for the animals.

The treaty protects biodiversity, meaning species and ecosystems. It does not ban fishing. It states that it must not undermine existing international bodies, which includes the regional organisations that manage high seas fisheries. Fishing will therefore continue in most of these waters even after the first protected areas are in place.

That matters because, according to the global biodiversity assessment by IPBES, direct exploitation of marine life, mainly fishing, has had the largest impact on ocean ecosystems. Every fish caught out there is an individual animal, whether it ends up on a plate or is thrown back dead as bycatch. Protected areas will help populations recover, but the most direct way to take pressure off the ocean is to stop eating fish.

We have reported on what happens when protection works, for example with Iceland’s plan for a permanent whaling ban and the efforts to save the last Irrawaddy dolphins in Songkhla Lake. Marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann explains in our interview what it would take to save the oceans.

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