AFP UK

Many had hoped that the fifth session of negotiations on a marine biodiversity treaty for international waters, which began on August 15, 2022 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would have been the last

UN member states edged closer Friday to finalizing a treaty to protect the high seas following two weeks of negotiations, but several disputes still needed to be overcome to reach agreement.

After 15 years, including four prior formal sessions, negotiators have yet to reach a legally binding text to address the growing environmental and economic challenges involving international waters — a zone which encompasses almost half the planet.

Many had hoped that this fifth session, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would be the last and yield a final text on “the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction,” or BBNJ for short.

A new version of the treaty — distributed to delegates on Friday morning just hours before the official end of negotiations, and seen by AFP — still included many paragraphs open to negotiation.

“We are closer than we have ever been at any time in this process to the finish line,” said conference chair Rena Lee during a short plenary session Friday afternoon to update delegates.

“But that said, we cannot be complacent. There’s still a lot more hard negotiating that we have to do in order for us to be able to get there,” she added, with observers suggesting consultations could run into Saturday.

One of the most sensitive issues revolves around the sharing of possible profits gained from developing genetic resources in international waters, where pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies hope to find miracle drugs, products or cures.

Such costly research at sea is largely the prerogative of rich nations, but developing countries do not want to be left out of potential windfall profits drawn from marine resources that belong to no one.

The new draft text seems to still side with the developing nations, with a requirement that two percent of all future sales be redistributed, eventually rising to eight percent.

Greenpeace on Thursday accused the EU, United States and Canada of rejecting the proposal out of “greed” to keep the resources for themselves, accusations denied by an EU negotiator.

Similar issues of equity arise in other international negotiations, such as on climate change, where developing nations feel outsized harms from global warming and try in vain to get wealthier nations to help pay to offset those impacts.

“The negotiations are difficult. We do not see a text that satisfies all delegations,” a diplomat from a developing country told AFP.

– ‘Too close to fail’ –

Despite that, some are hopeful for an agreement.

“This is the final stage and delegates are working hard to come to an agreement,” said Liz Karan with the NGO Pew Charitable Trusts.

Jihyun Lee, a youth ambassador with conservation group the High Seas Alliance, said: “We’re too close to fail.”

The high seas begin at the border of nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) — which by international law reach no more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from each country’s coast — and are under no state’s jurisdiction.

Sixty percent of the world’s oceans fall under this category.

And while healthy marine ecosystems are crucial to the future of humanity, particularly to limit global warming, only one percent of international waters are protected.

One of the key pillars of an eventual BBNJ treaty is to allow the creation of marine protected areas, which many nations hope will cover 30 percent of the Earth’s ocean by 2030.

“Without establishing protections in this vast area, we will not be able to meet our ambitious and necessary 30 by 30 goal,” said US State Department official Maxine Burkett at a press conference.

But delegations still disagree on the process for creating these protected areas, as well as on how to implement a requirement for environmental impact assessments before new activity on the high seas.

“I think they have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks on issues that were very controversial,” said Klaudija Cremers, a researcher at the IDDRI think tank, which like multiple other NGOs has a seat with observer status at the negotiations.

She told AFP that the final talks Friday “could be the push to get an agreement.”

Many had hoped that the fifth session of negotiations on a marine biodiversity treaty for international waters, which began on August 15, 2022 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would have been the last

A two-week negotiating session on a treaty to protect the high seas wraps up Friday, but UN observers were holding their breath with many points remaining contentious between member states.

After 15 years, including four prior formal sessions, negotiators have yet to reach a legally binding agreement to address the growing environmental and economic challenges involving the high seas, also known as international waters — a zone which encompasses almost half the planet.

Many had hoped that this fifth session, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would be the last and yield a final text on “the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction,” or BBNJ for short.

But a new version of the treaty — distributed to delegates on Friday morning just hours before the official end of negotiations, and seen by AFP — still included many paragraphs open to negotiations.

A meeting scheduled for noon (1600 GMT) was canceled to allow consultations to continue, which observers suggest could run into Saturday.

One of the most sensitive issues revolves around the sharing of possible profits gained from developing genetic resources in international waters, where pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies hope to find miracle drugs, products or cures.

Such costly research at sea is largely the prerogative of rich nations, but developing countries do not want to be left out of potential windfall profits drawn from marine resources that belong to no one.

The new draft text seems to still side with the developing nations, with a requirement that two percent of all future sales be redistributed, eventually rising to eight percent.

Greenpeace’s Will McCallum accuses the EU, United States and Canada of rejecting the proposal. 

“It’s not even real money. It’s just hypothetical money one day. That is why it is really frustrating,” he told AFP.

The EU pushed back on that characterization, with one European negotiator telling AFP: “We are willing to contribute to the BBNJ agreement through various funding sources, which in our view shall include a fair sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources globally.”

Similar issues of equity between the Global North and South arise in other international negotiations, such as on climate change, where developing nations feel outsized harms from global warming and try in vain to get wealthier nations to help pay to offset those impacts.

– ‘Too close to fail’ –

Some are hopeful for an agreement.

“This is the final stage and delegates are working hard to come to an agreement,” said Liz Karan with the NGO Pew Charitable Trusts.

Jihyun Lee, a youth ambassador with conservation group the High Seas Alliance, said: “We’re too close to fail.”

The high seas begin at the border of nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) — which by international law reach no more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from each country’s coast — and are under no state’s jurisdiction.

Sixty percent of the world’s oceans fall under this category.

And while healthy marine ecosystems are crucial to the future of humanity, particularly to limit global warming, only one percent of international waters are protected.

One of the key pillars of an eventual BBNJ treaty is to allow the creation of marine protected areas, which many nations hope will cover 30 percent of the Earth’s ocean by 2030.

“Without establishing protections in this vast area, we will not be able to meet our ambitious and necessary 30 by 30 goal,” said US State Department official Maxine Burkett at a press conference.

But delegations still disagree on the process for creating these protected areas, as well as on how to implement a requirement for environmental impact assessments before new activity on the high seas.

“I think they have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks on issues that were very controversial,” said Klaudija Cremers, a researcher at the IDDRI think tank, which like multiple other NGOs has a seat with observer status at the negotiations.

She told AFP that the final talks Friday “could be the push to get an agreement.”

The shutdown of several nuclear reactors due to corrosion issues has contributed to the French electricity price increase

European electricity prices soared to new records on Friday, presaging a bitter winter as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine inflicts economic pain across the continent.

The year-ahead contract for German electricity reached 995 euros ($995) per megawatt hours while the French equivalent surged past 1,100 euros — a more than tenfold increase in both countries from last year.

In Britain, energy regulator Ofgem said it would increase the electricity and gas price cap almost twofold from October 1 to an average £3,549 ($4,197) per year.

Ofgem blamed the increase on the spike in global wholesale gas prices after the lifting of Covid restrictions and Russian curbs on supplies.

The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, announced Friday that it would convene an EU energy crisis summit “at the earliest possible date”.

Energy prices have soared in Europe as Russia has slashed natural gas supplies to the continent, with fears of more drastic cuts in the winter amid tensions between Moscow and the West over the war.

One-fifth of European electricity is generated by gas-fired power plants, so drops in supply inevitably lead to higher prices.

European gas prices on Friday reached 341 euros per MWh, near the all-time high of 345 euros it struck in March.

The war is not the only culprit in France.

The shutdown of several nuclear reactors due to corrosion issues has contributed to the French electricity price increase as power production has dramatically decreased in the country.

Only 24 of the 56 reactors operated by energy giant EDF were online on Thursday.

France, which traditionally exports electricity, is now an importer.

“Winter is going to be a tough period for all the countries in Europe,” Giovanni Sgaravatti, research assistant at the Bruegl think tank in Brussels, told AFP.

“Prices will stay high, possibly they can even go higher,” he said.

– Recession ‘probably unavoidable’ –

A Bruegel study found that European Union countries have allocated 236 billion euros from September 2021 to August 2022 to shield households and firms from rising energy prices, which began to increase as countries emerged from Covid restrictions and soared after the war.

In recent days and weeks, countries have announced energy savings campaigns to encourage the public to reduce power consumption during the winter.

Germany announced Wednesday that the temperature of public administrative offices this winter would be capped at 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) while hot water would be shut off.

The German measures also include a ban on heating private swimming pools from September and over the six months that the decree is in place.

Finland is encouraging its citizens to lower their thermostats, take shorter showers and spend less time in saunas, a national tradition.

French households are shielded by an energy price cap until December 31 for now.

Industries are also affected by the soaring energy prices.

Factories that produce ammonia — an ingredient to make fertiliser — announced the suspension of their operations in Poland, Italy, Hungary and Norway this week.

HSBC bank warned in a note that “recession is probably unavoidable” in the eurozone, with the economy shrinking in the fourth quarter and the first three months of 2023.

A dry summer in France has left cows struggling to find enough grass to produce milk for cheese

France’s record heat and drought have not spared the majestic pastures under the snow-capped Alps, where cows are struggling to find enough grass to produce milk for reblochon and other prized cheeses.

“Everything’s yellow and parched, so we’ll have to bring them down from the pastures a month early,” said Theo Bargetzy, 28, as cowbells rang out in a field some 1,600 metres (5,250 feet) above sea level.

Crowds of tourists in search of cooler climes have flocked to the Alps this summer where buying local raw-milk reblochon and other hand-made cheeses directly from local producers is a cherished ritual. 

But this year, some heading to Bargetzy’s Lorettes farm perched above La Clusaz are coming away empty-handed — cows are not getting their usual fill of fresh grass, and their milk is less rich as a result.

July was the driest month on record for France overall since 1961, and heat waves pushed temperatures near La Clusaz above 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) on several days, unheard-of on the steep slopes.

“We’re losing one reblochon per cow per day, so in a week that’s 300 fewer cheeses,” Bargetzy says later, while molding fresh curds into discs that will be carefully aged on wooden planks in a cellar until the distinctive orange-gold rind forms.

It takes four litres of milk (just over a gallon) to make each cheese that weighs some 450 grammes (just under a pound) — within the guidelines set by the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO), the guardian of France’s strict food and wine appellations.

“The worst thing is that this is when we have lots of tourists wanting to buy, and we don’t have enough for everyone — we run out, and can’t sell to all the people coming to visit,” he said. 

– Raise prices again? –

Dozens of farmers have already dipped into their winter feed stocks, but overall dairy production in the region is down 15 percent from last year’s levels, according to the AFTAlp cheese producers’ association.

“The situation is difficult — we’ve had droughts in the past but this is going on everywhere in France, Italy and elsewhere in Europe,” said the association’s president Jean-Luc Duclos.

Duclos and his family manage a farm with more than 200 cows for making emmental as well as meat near Frangy, with an app-controlled milking system that would astonish his grandfather, who had “four cows and four hectares to feed 11 children.”

He worries that rising costs of feed, gas and electricity since the outbreak of the Ukraine war will create a vicious circle of price speculation and hoarding that could hurt farmers for months to come.

“We’ve already had to raise the prices of our Savoy products… but I think we’ll have to raise them again, by around five to eight percent, to cover the impact of this drought,” he said.

What for generations was subsistence farming has become a thriving Alps industry, though most operations are still family affairs that rely on both local and national networks to distribute their stocks.

Felix Gallet, 46, plays a key role as technical director of the reblochon cooperative in nearby Thones, ensuring the strict hygiene protocols required to sell raw-milk cheeses many countries do not allow because of bacterial risks.

“Our output is down around four or five percent. It’s not a complete catastrophe because some farms are higher up, and temperatures were a little lower than in the valleys,” Gallet said.

“But it’s true that it’s going to have an impact on our volumes, we’re hoping to recover this winter but it’s going to be hard to make up for what we’ve already lost,” he said.

Gallet also warned that in response, producers can increase prices only so much.

“It’s hard to go much higher, even for high-quality cheese. You have to bear in mind what consumers can pay,” he said.

Russia's only active female cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, 37, will be only the fifth professional woman cosmonaut from Russia or the Soviet Union to fly to space

Russia’s only active female cosmonaut, Anna Kikina, said Friday she was ready for her upcoming flight to the International Space Station aboard Space X’s Crew Dragon.

The flight, scheduled for October 3, is set to go ahead despite soaring tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. 

Kikina, a 37-year-old engineer, will be only the fifth professional woman cosmonaut from Russia or the Soviet Union to fly to space.

She will also be the first Russian to travel aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft, as part of a cross-flights deal between NASA and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. 

“Yes, of course I am ready for the flight. I will leave for America on September 8 for the final training session, pre-flight activities and procedures,” Kikina told a press conference broadcast by Roscosmos. 

Speaking of her role as the first Russian to fly with a Space X mission, she said “this is a great responsibility”.

“But I can also say that any flight is a big responsibility for a cosmonaut. So personally, I do not make special distinctions,” she added. 

Asked about the attitudes of US colleagues towards her, Kikina said that “I feel loved… I am very happy that I am part of this crew”. 

Kikina will be part of Space X’s Crew-5 mission to the ISS on October 3, joined by Japan’s Koichi Wakata and NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada. 

Kikina said she will be taking with her a symbol of her Siberian hometown Novosibirsk — a hand-made toy of a young boy with orange hair called “Gorodovichok”. 

“He’s already waiting for me onboard,” she said. 

The last Russian woman to fly to space was Elena Serova, who spent 167 days aboard the ISS from September 2014 to March 2015. 

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space when she travelled into orbit on June 16, 1963. 

Svetlana Savitskaya was the second woman in space, and the first woman to perform a spacewalk in July 1984. 

In October, Russia also sent to space an actress, Yulia Peresild, who spent 12 days on the ISS shooting scenes for a movie.

By comparison, more than 50 American women have travelled to space.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is set to launch to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on September 21, joined by cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin. 

A farmer and his livestock seek shelter from flooded lands alongside the national highway in Khairpur district of Pakistan's Sindh province

Heavy rain pounded parts of Pakistan Friday after the government declared an emergency to deal with monsoon flooding that it said had affected more than four million people.

The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but each year it also brings a wave of destruction.

The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said Friday that more than 900 people had been killed this year — including 34 in the last 24 hours — as a result of the monsoon rains that began in June.

Officials say this year’s floods are comparable to 2010 — the worst on record — when over 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water.

“I have never seen such huge flooding because of rains in my life,” octogenarian farmer Rahim Bakhsh Brohi told AFP near Sukkur, in southern Sindh province.

Like thousands of others in rural Pakistan, Brohi was seeking shelter beside the national highway, as the elevated roads are among the few dry places in the endless landscapes of water.

The disaster agency said over 4.2 million people were “affected” by the flooding, with nearly 220,000 homes destroyed and half a million more badly damaged.

Two million acres of cultivated crops had been wiped out in Sindh alone, the provincial disaster agency said, where many farmers live hand-to-mouth, season-to-season.

“My cotton crop that was sown on 50 acres of land is all gone,” Nasrullah Mehar told AFP.

“It’s a huge loss for me… what can be done?”

Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman, who on Wednesday called the floods “a catastrophe of epic scale”, said the government had declared an emergency, and appealed for international assistance.

Pakistan is eighth on the Global Climate Risk Index, a list compiled by the environmental NGO Germanwatch of countries deemed most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change.

– From drought to floods –

Earlier this year much of the nation was in the grip of a drought and heatwave, with temperatures hitting 51 degrees Celsius (124 Fahrenheit) in Jacobabad, Sindh province.

The city is now grappling with floods that have inundated homes and swept away roads and bridges.

In Sukkur, about 75 kilometres (50 miles) away, residents struggled to make their way along muddy streets clogged with flood-borne debris.

“If you had come earlier the water was this high,” 24-year-old student Aqeel Ahmed told AFP, raising his hand to his chest.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif cancelled a planned trip to Britain to oversee the flood response, and ordered the army to throw every resource into relief operations.

“I have seen from the air and the devastation can’t be expressed in words,” he said on state TV after visiting Sukkur.

“The towns, villages and crops are inundated by the water. I don’t think this level of destruction has taken place before.”

A national fundraising appeal has been launched, with Pakistan’s military saying every commissioned officer would donate a month’s salary towards it.

The worst-hit areas are Balochistan and Sindh in the south and west, but almost all of Pakistan has suffered this year.

Images were circulating on social media Friday of swollen rivers obliterating buildings and bridges built along their banks in the mountainous north.

In Chaman, the western frontier town neighbouring Afghanistan, travellers had to wade through waist-high water to cross the border after a nearby dam burst, adding to the deluge brought by rain.

Pakistan Railways said nearby Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, had been cut off and train services suspended after a key bridge was damaged by a flash flood.

Most mobile networks and internet services were down in the province, with the country’s telecoms authority calling it “unprecedented”.

China's scorching heatwave poses a 'severe threat' to the autumn harvest, the government has said, promising billions of yuan in fresh aid for farmers

For almost a decade, farmer Qin Bin, 50, has toiled his plot, growing peaches and dragon fruits for sale to visiting tourists at his orchard on the outskirts of the Chinese megacity of Chongqing.

But this year’s crop is devastated, another casualty of a blistering heatwave that has engulfed southern China in the country’s hottest summer on record and subsumed half its land in drought.

“This is absolutely the first time in my life encountering such a disaster,” he tells AFP. 

“This year is a very miserable one.

“We should be harvesting fruits right now, but it’s all gone, dead from the scorching sun.”

Southern China has recorded its longest continuous period of high temperatures since records began more than 60 years ago, forcing power cuts that have hit agricultural workers hard.

The searing heat poses a “severe threat” to the country’s autumn harvest, the Chinese government has said, promising billions of yuan in fresh aid to farmers.

But for Qin, any help will come too late — his crop has dried up on the vine and with it his main source of income. 

“It’s basically all dead,” he says. “The government has been making a huge effort to help us, but it can only bring trees to life, not fruits.”

He’s far from the only one suffering in his village, home to over a thousand acres of longans that are now ruined.

“If you take a walk around our town, you can feel the scale of the disaster,” he says.

The extreme heat has forced Qin and fellow farmers to work odd hours — it’s simply too hot to toil during the day as the mercury pushes past 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Instead they work at night — from 10 pm until 4 am — and rest during the day.

“It’s impossible to work out in the orchard, because the ground temperature is around 60 degrees Celsius… we measured it the other day,” he explains.

But their efforts to save what they can may be in vain if the drought lasts into next month.

“If the heat lasts until September 4 as some of them said, probably more than half of the trees that we put day-and-night effort into rescuing will be dead,” Qin says.

“It’s too miserable to bear witness to.”

Qin is sceptical that much can be done to help his beleaguered community — with so much land affected, he says, authorities have a huge task on their hands.

“Those who can save themselves are doing it,” he says.

The effects of the drought will continue even into 2023, as his parched trees struggle to produce fruit. 

“My trees won’t bloom well next season, the fruits will be greatly affected as a result.”

All they can do for now, he says, is wait for rain.

Many had hoped that the fifth session of negotiations on a marine biodiversity treaty for international waters, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would have been the last

A two-week negotiating session on a treaty to protect the high seas wraps up Friday, with UN observers holding their breath that the long-stalled deal can cross the finish line.

After 15 years, including four prior formal sessions, negotiators have yet to reach a legally binding agreement to address the growing environmental and economic challenges involving the high seas, also known as international waters — a zone which encompasses almost half the planet.

Many had hoped that this fifth session, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would be the last and yield a final text on “the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction,” or BBNJ for short.

The High Ambition Coalition, a group of some 50 countries led by the European Union, had even called for a comprehensive BBNJ deal to be finalized by the end of the year.

But according to international environmental group Greenpeace, the talks are on the brink of failure because of what it considers “the greed of countries in the High Ambition Coalition and others like Canada and the United States.”

One of the most sensitive issues revolves around the sharing of possible profits gained from developing genetic resources in international waters, where pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies hope to find miracle drugs, products or cures.

Such costly research at sea is largely the prerogative of rich nations, but developing countries do not want to be left out of potential windfall profits drawn from marine resources that belong to no one.

A draft text published a few days ago seemed to side with the developing nations, with a requirement that two percent of all future sales be redistributed.

But since then, there has been “a big step backwards,” said Greenpeace’s Will McCallum, who accuses the EU of rejecting the proposal. 

“It’s not even real money. It’s just hypothetical money one day. That is why it is really frustrating,” he told AFP.

The EU pushed back on that characterization, with one European negotiator telling AFP: “We are willing to contribute to the BBNJ agreement through various funding sources, which in our view shall include a fair sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources globally.”

Similar issues of equity between the Global North and South arise in other international negotiations, such as on climate change, where developing nations feel outsized harms of global warming and try in vain to get wealthier nations to help pay to offset those impacts.

– ‘Too close to fail’ –

Though Greenpeace might be very pessimistic, others still hope for an agreement on Friday.

“It is slow but there is still a lot of will inside the room to get it done,” said Liz Karan with the NGO Pew Charitable Trusts.

“I wouldn’t call it a failure yet but the clock is ticking,” she added.

Jihyun Lee, a youth ambassador with conservation group the High Seas Alliance, said a deal was possible, but added it would be necessary for countries, “especially those who claim themselves as ocean champions, to show more ambitions and flexibility so we can get the treaty done.”

“We cannot afford to water down the high seas treaty and we don’t have any time to waste,” she told a press conference. “We’re too close to fail.”

The high seas begin at the border of nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) — which by international law reach no more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from each country’s coast — and are under no state’s jurisdiction.

Sixty percent of the world’s oceans fall under this category.

And while healthy marine ecosystems are crucial for the future of humanity, particularly to limit global warming, only one percent of international waters are protected.

One of the key pillars of an eventual BBNJ treaty is to allow the creation of marine protected areas, which many nations hope will cover 30 percent of the Earth’s ocean by 2030.

“Without establishing protections in this vast area, we will not be able to meet our ambitious and necessary 30 by 30 goal,” said US State Department official Maxine Burkett at a press conference.

But delegations still disagree on the process for creating these protected areas, as well as on how to implement a requirement for environmental impact assessments before new activity on the high seas.

“I think they have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks on issues that were very controversial,” said Klaudija Cremers, a researcher at the IDDRI think tank, which like multiple other NGOs has a seat with observer status at the negotiations.

She told AFP that the final talks Friday “could be the push to get an agreement.”

Many had hoped that the fifth session of negotiations on a marine biodiversity treaty for international waters, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would have been the last

A two-week negotiating session on a treaty to protect the high seas wraps up Friday, with UN observers holding their breath that the long-stalled deal can cross the finish line.

After 15 years, including four prior formal sessions, negotiators have yet to reach a legally binding agreement to address the growing environmental and economic challenges involving the high seas, also known as international waters — a zone which encompasses almost half the planet.

Many had hoped that this fifth session, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would be the last and yield a final text on “the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction,” or BBNJ for short.

The High Ambition Coalition, a group of some 50 countries led by the European Union, had even called for a comprehensive BBNJ deal to be finalized by the end of the year.

But according to international environmental group Greenpeace, the talks are on the brink of failure because of what it considers “the greed of countries in the High Ambition Coalition and others like Canada and the United States.”

One of the most sensitive issues revolves around the sharing of possible profits gained from developing genetic resources in international waters, where pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies hope to find miracle drugs, products or cures.

Such costly research at sea is largely the prerogative of rich nations, but developing countries do not want to be left out of potential windfall profits drawn from marine resources that belong to no one.

A draft text published a few days ago seemed to side with the developing nations, with a requirement that two percent of all future sales be redistributed.

But since then, there has been “a big step backwards,” said Greenpeace’s Will McCallum, who accuses the EU of rejecting the proposal. 

“It’s not even real money. It’s just hypothetical money one day. That is why it is really frustrating,” he told AFP.

The EU pushed back on that characterization, with one European negotiator telling AFP: “We are willing to contribute to the BBNJ agreement through various funding sources, which in our view shall include a fair sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources globally.”

Similar issues of equity between the Global North and South arise in other international negotiations, such as on climate change, where developing nations feel outsized harms of global warming and try in vain to get wealthier nations to help pay to offset those impacts.

– ‘Too close to fail’ –

Though Greenpeace might be very pessimistic, others still hope for an agreement on Friday.

“It is slow but there is still a lot of will inside the room to get it done,” said Liz Karan with the NGO Pew Charitable Trusts.

“I wouldn’t call it a failure yet but the clock is ticking,” she added.

Jihyun Lee, a youth ambassador with conservation group the High Seas Alliance, said a deal was possible, but added it would be necessary for countries, “especially those who claim themselves as ocean champions, to show more ambitions and flexibility so we can get the treaty done.”

“We cannot afford to water down the high seas treaty and we don’t have any time to waste,” she told a press conference. “We’re too close to fail.”

The high seas begin at the border of nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) — which by international law reach no more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from each country’s coast — and are under no state’s jurisdiction.

Sixty percent of the world’s oceans fall under this category.

And while healthy marine ecosystems are crucial for the future of humanity, particularly to limit global warming, only one percent of international waters are protected.

One of the key pillars of an eventual BBNJ treaty is to allow the creation of marine protected areas, which many nations hope will cover 30 percent of the Earth’s ocean by 2030.

“Without establishing protections in this vast area, we will not be able to meet our ambitious and necessary 30 by 30 goal,” said US State Department official Maxine Burkett at a press conference.

But delegations still disagree on the process for creating these protected areas, as well as on how to implement a requirement for environmental impact assessments before new activity on the high seas.

“I think they have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks on issues that were very controversial,” said Klaudija Cremers, a researcher at the IDDRI think tank, which like multiple other NGOs has a seat with observer status at the negotiations.

She told AFP that the final talks Friday “could be the push to get an agreement.”

Many had hoped that the fifth session of negotiations on a marine biodiversity treaty for international waters, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would have been the last

A two-week negotiating session on a treaty to protect the high seas wraps up Friday, with UN observers holding their breath that the long-stalled deal can cross the finish line.

After 15 years, including four prior formal sessions, negotiators have yet to reach a legally binding agreement to address the growing environmental and economic challenges involving the high seas, also known as international waters — a zone which encompasses almost half the planet.

Many had hoped that this fifth session, which began on August 15 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, would be the last and yield a final text on “the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction,” or BBNJ for short.

The High Ambition Coalition, a group of some 50 countries led by the European Union, had even called for a comprehensive BBNJ deal to be finalized by the end of the year.

But according to international environmental group Greenpeace, the talks are on the brink of failure because of what it considers “the greed of countries in the High Ambition Coalition and others like Canada and the United States.”

One of the most sensitive issues revolves around the sharing of possible profits gained from developing genetic resources in international waters, where pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies hope to find miracle drugs, products or cures.

Such costly research at sea is largely the prerogative of rich nations, but developing countries do not want to be left out of potential windfall profits drawn from marine resources that belong to no one.

A draft text published a few days ago seemed to side with the developing nations, with a requirement that two percent of all future sales be redistributed.

But since then, there has been “a big step backwards,” said Greenpeace’s Will McCallum, who accuses the EU of rejecting the proposal. 

“It’s not even real money. It’s just hypothetical money one day. That is why it is really frustrating,” he told AFP.

The EU pushed back on that characterization, with one European negotiator telling AFP: “We are willing to contribute to the BBNJ agreement through various funding sources, which in our view shall include a fair sharing of benefits from marine genetic resources globally.”

Similar issues of equity between the Global North and South arise in other international negotiations, such as on climate change, where developing nations feel outsized harms of global warming and try in vain to get wealthier nations to help pay to offset those impacts.

– ‘Too close to fail’ –

Though Greenpeace might be very pessimistic, others still hope for an agreement on Friday.

“It is slow but there is still a lot of will inside the room to get it done,” said Liz Karan with the NGO Pew Charitable Trusts.

“I wouldn’t call it a failure yet but the clock is ticking,” she added.

Jihyun Lee, a youth ambassador with conservation group the High Seas Alliance, said a deal was possible, but added it would be necessary for countries, “especially those who claim themselves as ocean champions, to show more ambitions and flexibility so we can get the treaty done.”

“We cannot afford to water down the high seas treaty and we don’t have any time to waste,” she told a press conference. “We’re too close to fail.”

The high seas begin at the border of nations’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) — which by international law reach no more than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from each country’s coast — and are under no state’s jurisdiction.

Sixty percent of the world’s oceans fall under this category.

And while healthy marine ecosystems are crucial for the future of humanity, particularly to limit global warming, only one percent of international waters are protected.

One of the key pillars of an eventual BBNJ treaty is to allow the creation of marine protected areas, which many nations hope will cover 30 percent of the Earth’s ocean by 2030.

“Without establishing protections in this vast area, we will not be able to meet our ambitious and necessary 30 by 30 goal,” said US State Department official Maxine Burkett at a press conference.

But delegations still disagree on the process for creating these protected areas, as well as on how to implement a requirement for environmental impact assessments before new activity on the high seas.

“I think they have made a lot of progress in the last two weeks on issues that were very controversial,” said Klaudija Cremers, a researcher at the IDDRI think tank, which like multiple other NGOs has a seat with observer status at the negotiations.

She told AFP that the final talks Friday “could be the push to get an agreement.”