. The concomitant ocean acidification potentially compromises marine resources – both living and mineral. And rising sea levels are worrying for coastal communities and island states.
Advocate Thembile Joyini – legal adviser in South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Department and a member of the African group of negotiators for the High Seas Treaty – told ISS Today: ‘South Africa and the African group were, from day one, of the view that the common heritage of mankind must be in the new instrument, and this has happened.
With 54 African states represented at the UN, the continent is the world’s largest regional voting bloc and has an important legacy of leadership on ocean governance. The exclusive economic zone concept was a result of contributions from Kenyan legal scholars Frank Xavier Njenga and Andronico Adede. The concept gives coastal states sovereign rights over their waters and the seabed within its zone to ensure equitable access and resource-sharing by all states.
The AU must build on this momentum by encouraging member states to sign and ratify the treaty. This advocacy should be merged with continued calls to ratify Africa’s maritime governance frameworks, including the Revised African Maritime Transport Charter and the African Charter on Maritime Security, Safety and Development in Africa .