Here is a new tool for implementing conservation finance

From the newsletter

The ratification of the UN High Seas Treaty this month is expected to unlock new conservation finance for Africa, supporting marine protected areas and biodiversity research. As the first legally binding framework for international waters, it creates pathways for investment and partnerships that African countries can use to strengthen marine protection and management.

• In 2015, Seychelles launched the world’s first debt-for-nature swap to protect 30% of its waters and issued the world’s first sovereign blue bond in 2018, raising $15 million for ocean protection.

• Africa's extensive coastline, exceeding 30,000 km, makes marine economies vital for countries that rely on fisheries and marine biodiversity. However, these ocean-dependent sectors face significant threats from climate change.

More details

• The treaty was formally known as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). It provides a global framework to conserve biodiversity in areas that lie outside national borders.

• More than 60 countries have now ratified the Treaty, triggering its full operation in January 2026. Nine African nations are part of this group: Congo, Gabon, Mauritius, Seychelles, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia and Comoros. The high seas cover two-thirds of the global ocean and are home to an estimated ten million species, many yet to be identified. They serve as vital migratory corridors for species and connect African waters to global ecosystems. 

• The Treaty introduces tools long called for by conservation professionals. These include provisions for creating marine protected areas on the high seas and carrying out environmental impact assessments for activities with potential cross-border harm It also ensures equitable benefit-sharing from marine genetic resources used in science, biotechnology and pharmaceutical development.

• Conservationists emphasise that connected networks of marine protected areas are vital to ecological continuity. By extending protection across international borders, the Treaty helps safeguard seamounts and migratory pathways that underpin Africa’s coastal biodiversity and fisheries. The agreement also raises implications for industrial activities. 

• Although the Treaty has reached the threshold to enter into force, implementation will depend on further negotiations. Countries must agree on how high seas protected areas will be chosen, how genetic resources will be shared, the different funding mechanisms for implementation and how enforcement will be coordinated across different international ocean management regimes.

• For Africa’s conservation professionals, the Treaty represents both opportunity and challenge. It provides a framework to attract new finance and extend protection beyond national waters. Yet its success will rely on how effectively African states and their conservation partners engage in the next phase of global ocean governance.

Our take

• The High Seas Treaty gives Africa its strongest-ever legal and financial tool to scale marine conservation beyond borders.

• By extending protections across migratory routes and seamounts, it connects Africa’s 30,000 km coastline to global ecosystems and lets more countries attract investment to protect biodiversity.