At the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, Australia reaffirmed a series of sweeping marine conservation initiatives that span from global leadership to urgent domestic reform. Environment Minister Murray Watt outlined key commitments, including backing an international plastic pollution treaty and ratifying a groundbreaking High Seas Biodiversity Treaty by year’s end. He also announced a plan to designate 30% of Australia’s ocean territory as “highly protected” by 2030, shielding vital ecosystems from industrial fishing, drilling, and mining.
While Australia’s international efforts drew applause, local campaigners stressed that tangible action at home must match global rhetoric. Domestic recycling rates remain stagnant at just 12.5%, according to experts at the conference, and Australia continues to lose hundreds of kilograms of plastic into the environment every minute. “Ghost nets and marine debris are particularly affecting Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory,” warned conservation groups, urging the government to enhance national policies on plastic packaging and waste management.
Watt also joined a coalition endorsing shark and ray conservation efforts, stressing the critical role these species play in the marine food web. Additionally, he confirmed that legislative reviews of 44 existing marine parks would pave the way for expanded protection, with the aim of elevating areas from basic reserves to zones off-limits to extractive industries. Currently, while 52% of Australia’s marine territory holds some form of protection, only 24% is classified as genuinely “highly protected”.
Internationally, Australia is stepping up as a leader in high seas governance. The country has co-chaired negotiations for the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, which enables environmental impact assessments and the creation of protected areas in international waters, as defined under the 1982 UNCLOS framework . Signed in September 2023, the treaty requires ratification by 60 states before taking effect. As of mid-June, 49 countries—including Australia—have ratified, and another 18 recently joined at the conference, inching the treaty closer to enforcement.
The conference itself brought the fragility of the planet’s oceans into sharp focus. With only 2.7% of global waters currently protected from damaging practices, ministers, heads of state, and environmental leaders stressed the need to “turn words into deeds.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized that without urgent implementation of a “30 by 30” target—protecting 30% of marine habitats by 2030—critical ecosystems face irreversible decline.
Yet critics remain cautious. Greenpeace expressed deep concern over what it described as a diluted UN conference declaration that omitted key measures on deep-sea mining moratoriums, precautionary environmental protocols, and human rights framings. Observers from Pacific and Indigenous communities voiced that Australia’s current marine protections too often advantage remote abyssal zones, while neglecting coastal and culturally significant areas. They also called for urgent legislative action to formally ratify the High Seas Treaty before the end of Parliament’s spring session.
Environmental advocates insist that meaningful progress requires domestic action on several fronts: implementing packaging laws, pushing recycling rates upward, incentivizing extended producer responsibility, and forming national legislation to ratify global accords like the High Seas Treaty. They also stress the importance of committing to bans on new offshore fossil fuel exploration within marine sanctuaries and calling for a global pause on deep-sea mining.
In closing remarks, Minister Watt underscored the connection between Australia’s domestic ambitions and its global leadership, asserting that the government is charting a national “Sustainable Ocean Plan” aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14. Yet the challenge remains: without swift and substantive follow-through at home, headlines and treaties risk becoming empty promises.
