The decree passed during the Council of Ministers meeting on April 23, signed by the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, Economy, Pedro Reis, and Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, received presidential approval on April 29.
The agreement, aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, concerning the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, was adopted in New York on June 19, 2023.
Portugal has signed the agreement, pending ratification.
The government emphasizes in the decree that the agreement is “essential for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 14, which is entirely focused on the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean.”
It is crucial for fulfilling the commitment to protect 30% of the sea by 2030, a commitment established during the UN biodiversity conference in Canada in December 2022 (COP15).
“Portugal, as a leading state in promoting global ocean governance, its protection, and sustainable use, and simultaneously holding a large maritime area, with a substantial part adjacent to areas beyond national jurisdiction, has significant interests that justify its commitment, excluding matters related to the definition of territorial sea limits, the exclusive economic zone, and Portugal’s rights over contiguous seabeds,” the document published in the Official Gazette states.
A month before the third United Nations Conference on Oceans in Nice, France, the government also mentions in the preamble of the decree that the European Union and its Member States “are committed to the swift ratification of the agreement.”
For these reasons, “the conclusion of the Portuguese state’s commitment to this agreement is of particular relevance and urgency,” the document states, referring to a resolution of the Assembly of the Republic from December 16 last year, recommending the government ratify the High Seas Treaty.
The decree-law comprises two articles, accompanied by an annex with the New York agreement in both English and Portuguese versions.
The High Seas Treaty is deemed a historic and binding agreement, with negotiations spanning more than 15 years, aiming to promote conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
While signed by over a hundred countries, it has been ratified by about twenty. The Portuguese government signed the agreement but had yet to ratify it, expected to be the 22nd country to do so.
The agreement will come into effect 120 days after the ratification by at least 60 countries.
