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Port of Nice, France, during the United Nations Oceans Conference in June 2025.
High time for the high seas: Q+A with Rebecca Hubbard
Amid a rising tide of concerns about the temperature, level, and even the color of the world’s oceans, the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) gathered in Nice, France, last weekend to try to address some of the challenges. The principal topic was the High Seas Treaty: dubbed the “Paris Agreement for the ocean,” the pact aims to boost conservation efforts in areas outside of national jurisdictions, which accounts nearly half of the planet’s surface.
To learn more about this critical treaty, Eurasia Group’s biodiversity and sustainability analyst María José Valverde sat down with Rebecca Hubbard, the director of the High Seas Alliance. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
María José Valverde: How have you seen the marine sector evolve since the first UN Ocean Conference?
Rebecca Hubbard: The ocean sector has made significant progress since the first UNOC, especially in public and political awareness. Interest in ocean conservation has grown, particularly regarding the high seas, which were historically viewed as a secondary issue because we don’t live in them. Governments are also looking at it through the frame of the blue economy and increasingly understand the importance of sustainable resource management, including the role oceans play in absorbing heat and carbon dioxide. There’s also been greater political will to act, supported by countless civil society organizations and initiatives like the UN Decade of Ocean Science. And in that process, the High Seas Treaty came to fruition, which marks a landmark change in how we govern the high seas, which cover half of the planet. That’s no small feat.
This is the first ocean conference with the Global Biodiversity Framework and the 30x30 marine target in place. How does that affect your work when engaging countries or sectors?
The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – including the goal to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 – has made a big difference. It’s absolutely critical for the high seas; the areas beyond national jurisdiction cover around two-thirds of the ocean and we will not be able to reach the 30% target if we do not protect the high seas.
Given the challenges of coordinating across borders and institutional frameworks, do you expect practical difficulties in implementing and achieving agreement under the High Seas Treaty?
Implementation is always more challenging than making commitments, but we’ve built substantial political momentum. When it comes to doing any of these conservation tasks, it’s really about leaders and governments feeling ownership and understanding the value, and many countries have gone to great lengths to ratify and prepare for implementation, despite the complex processes of legislation, consultation, and educating their ministries and departments.
Even with current geopolitical tensions, there’s a genuine appetite for multilateralism because countries realize global challenges demand collaboration. We’ve already seen strong regional cooperation in places like Asia-Pacific and Latin America, where countries support one another in understanding how to implement the Treaty. It won’t be simple, but there is real hope and determination to achieve something globally significant.
Are there regions or countries that stand out as leaders in supporting the ratification and implementation process?
We’ve seen leadership come from across all regions, which is very encouraging. In the Pacific, developing, small-island states have renamed themselves the “big ocean states,” and have remained ocean and climate champions. Palau specifically was the first one to ratify the treaty, and we’ve got a number of others that have also ratified it, all working together to pursue ratification as a region. Costa Rica and France, as co-hosts of the UNOC, have made Treaty ratification a core goal, leveraging diplomatic networks to encourage others. The Philippines has been a regional leader in Asia, hosting capacity-building workshops for other Southeast Asian countries, even though domestic politics have slowed their own ratification. Nigeria has emerged as a leader in Africa – they were not the first to ratify the treaty, but they have provided a lot of support and encouragement to other countries. Finally, the preparatory meetings to establish institutional processes for the Treaty have shown strong engagement and consensus-building, which is very promising for future implementation.
What are the main barriers to the approval of the High Seas Treaty?
A significant barrier is the lack of understanding. Our efforts are focused on raising awareness among countries, especially within their ministries, about how activities in the high seas affect their national waters. Species and ecosystems are interconnected, and actions in the high seas can undermine national conservation efforts if not properly managed. Specifically for landlocked countries, of which there are over 40, discussions focus on the ocean's role in climate systems and water cycles. There is potential there for capacity building, marine technology transfer, and marine genetic resource finance. High seas research can bolster national science and tech sectors, as accessing this data is typically cost-prohibitive for individual countries.
What’s next for the High Seas Alliance once the Treaty is ratified? What are your immediate objectives?
Ratification feels like the end, but it’s really just the beginning. Our goal is to get at least 60 countries to ratify – hopefully by UNOC, or very shortly thereafter – so that the Treaty can enter into force. Then we’ll push for universal ratification and support countries in building the institutions and processes that make the Treaty functional, inclusive, and efficient. We’ve already started working on implementation; we did a science symposium in Australia on the Lord Howe and Tasman Sea region, and some workshops in the Walvis Ridge, which is off the coast of Africa.
What inspired you to devote your career to ocean conservation?
I’ve always loved the ocean. I was very fortunate to grow up in Australia, spending much of my childhood at the beach thanks to my dad, who was a surfer. I grew up with love, fear and respect for the ocean – and the fact that we’ve done so much damage to it, not valued how it’s the source of all life on the planet, and how little effort we put into it to care for it made me decide that this is what I needed to work on. I have now worked on ocean conservation for 20 years.
The High Seas Treaty, for me, represents the single biggest step we can take for global conservation, given the central role of the ocean in supporting life. It’s also a source of inspiration; more people should focus on the spiritual benefits that we get from nature and from the ocean, instead of reducing them to their scientific or economic value.