New Delhi, June 10 -- Close to 20 more countries have ratified the high seas treaty during the third instalment of the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) in Nice, France, which is taking place from June 9th to 13th, 2025. This brings the total number of ratifications to 49. However, this still falls short of the 60 ratifications needed for the treaty to come into force.

UNOC 3 was expected to catalyse nations to catalyse nations into ratifying the high seas treaty, formally called the Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) treaty, which was adopted on June 19, 2023 after two decades of negotiations. France and Costa Rica are co-hosting the UNOC 3 event.

The high seas encompass areas beyond 200 n...