A global sea change

A look ahead to the world this week

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Good afternoon, Covering nearly half of the Earth's surface, the so-called high seas – areas of ocean more than 200 nautical miles from all coasts – are home to up to ten million species and are a vital resource. Ocean ecosystems generate half of the oxygen we breathe, comprise 95% of the planet's biosphere and soak up vast amounts of carbon dioxide.  Yet to date, the high seas have been an essentially lawless place, sitting beyond any national jurisdiction. This lack of governance has resulted in pollution, overexploitation of fish stocks and damage to habitats that has impacted two-thirds of the ocean, according to a recent assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.  Campaigners hope that is all about to change, however, after nearly 200 countries this weekend agreed to the UN High Seas Treaty – a legally binding protocol that has been two decades in the making and that required a gruelling 36-hour final session at the UN's New York headquarters to get over the line. The signing of the deal represents a momentous achievement for international diplomacy. Prior to the treaty, only about 1% of the high seas were protected. But while the "headline" part of the agreement is the placement of 30% of the world's international waters into protected areas (MPAs) by 2030, said the BBC, ferocious debates between delegates left many important issues unresolved.  Dr Simon Walmsley, marine chief advisor of WWF-UK, said: "There was debate particularly around what a marine protected area is. Is it sustainable use or fully protected?" While such questions have yet to be answered, even getting the agreement this far was a tremendous effort. The so-called High Ambition Coalition – which includes the EU, US, UK and China – were all "key players" in brokering the deal, said The Guardian, while "the Global South led the way in ensuring the treaty could be put into practice in a fair and equitable way". But the deal is by no means in the bag. It must first be formally adopted at a later session, and will only come into force after governments legally pass the measures in their own countries. And Russia was one of a number of countries that registered concerns about the final text. Dr Walmsley told the BBC that "there is a real delicate balance" as "if you don't have enough states it won't enter into force". The deal also required the backing of "the states with enough money to get the impact", he added. "We are thinking around 40 states to get the whole thing into force." Experts have "already warned that the treaty must be rapidly adopted, ratified and implemented in order to make a genuine impact," said Sky News's climate change correspondent Hannah Thomas-Peter. "As delegates travel home from New York, they will be aware of all of this, and that the hard work has really only just begun." Read on for the tense wait for results from Rishi Sunak's visit to Paris and other global news, including Xi Jinping's "profound overhaul" of China's government. Arion McNicoll The Week @arionmcnicoll

What to watch out for this week Sunak in Paris: Rishi Sunak will visit President Emmanuel Macron in France on Friday for a bilateral summit. The meeting "will be an opportunity for the two leaders to deepen cooperation... in a range of areas, including security, climate and energy, the economy, migration, youth and foreign policy", the French presidency said in a statement sent to Reuters. Macron and Sunak met for talks in November on the sidelines of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt and promised to work more closely on immigration issues. The duo also pledged "ambitious cooperation" on nuclear energy to help ease the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on energy supplies. US investigates Covid origins: A House of Representatives subcommittee set up by Republicans to investigate the origins of Covid-19 will hold its first hearing on Wednesday. According to a press release from the US Committee on Oversight and Accountability, "mounting evidence continues to point to the virus originating from a lab leak". The subcommittee's chair, Brad Wenstrup, said that "the American people deserve real answers after years of suffering through the Coronavirus pandemic and related government policies". The investigation "must begin with where and how this virus came about so that we can attempt to 'predict, prepare, protect, or prevent' it from happening again", he added. Xi tightens his grip: Xi Jinping is preparing a "profound overhaul" of China's government and his Chinese Communist Party's institutions at this year's National People's Congress (NPC), The Guardian reported. The rubber-stamp parliament, which began its annual session yesterday, has promised changes of "far-reaching significance", which are expected to include a reorganisation of state security and of the departments that manage the financial and technology sectors. This year's NPC will also see Xi granted his third term as president. All of these changes are designed to achieve "one goal", said the paper – "to strengthen the party's control".  Wagner's frontline warning: The head of the Russian-backed Wagner mercenary group has warned that if his troops are forced to retreat from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, "the entire front will collapse". Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin issued the warning in a video released over the weekend "in which he also complained of an ammunition shortage", The Washington Post reported. Intense fighting has continued in and around Bakhmut as both Kyiv and Moscow face shortages of ammunition and mounting casualties.

STAT OF THE WEEK 80% The percentage of a food product's raw ingredients that must come from Switzerland in order to be classified as "Swiss made", while milk-based products must be made exclusively in the central European country. Those requirements, under Switzerland's Swissness Act, have triggered an announcement from the US owner of Toblerone that the image of the Matterhorn mountain peak will soon disappear from the popular chocolate bar's packaging. Mondelez International announced last year that it was moving some Toblerone production to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. And a spokesperson told Swiss newspaper Aargauer Zeitung last week that a packaging redesign would see the Matterhorn replaced with "a modernised and streamlined mountain logo that aligns with the geometric and triangular aesthetic". The wording on the packaging will also be changed to "established in Switzerland", rather than "of Switzerland".

Briefing of the week

Climate change: five good-news stories for the planet in 2023 Whales, wheat and a Plant Based Treaty, all with the potential to combat climate change Read more

Global round-up What you need to know about the biggest stories in world news The Holodomor: Ukraine's other significant anniversary The famine killed nearly four million people and helped to strip the country of its independence, yet was denied by the Soviet Union Read more The court case that could bring down Fox News Litigation has revealed Fox News knew voter fraud claims were "bogus" but didn't want to lose viewers Read more Elon Musk: 'mad genius' who became world's richest person The Tesla CEO has been causing yet more controversy since buying Twitter Read more Iran and the bomb: unleashing a 'nuclear arms race'? Western fears rise as the Middle East country gets closer to nuclear power Read more Why space experts want a new time zone for the Moon International effort launched to create a commonly agreed lunar time Read more

Person OF THE WEEK Rafael Grossi  The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, announced on Saturday that Iran has agreed to reconnect cameras and other monitoring equipment at its nuclear sites and increase the pace of inspections. The news followed a meeting between Grossi and Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and other top officials in Tehran, in the wake of the discovery of uranium particles "enriched to near weapons-grade level" at an underground Iranian facility, Al Jazeera reported. The nuclear watchdog and Iran also issued a joint statement that said Tehran had "expressed its readiness to... provide further information and access to address the outstanding safeguards issues". Speaking to reporters after returning to Vienna, where the agency is based, Grossi said: "These are not words. This is very concrete."

unexpected turn Trump's baby boom Donald Trump this weekend outlined plans to offer "baby bonuses" for couples, as part of his pitch to return to the White House. "We will support baby boomers and we will support baby bonuses for a new baby boom, how does that sound? I want a baby boom," Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference, in National Harbor, Maryland. "You men are so lucky out there. You are so lucky, men." The former real-estate mogul also announced plans to build up to ten so-called "freedom cities" that would feature flying cars and would be filled with children. The projects are all part of his "quantum leap" agenda, which is a core component of his 2024 presidential platform, Politico said. Freedom cities would feature "towering monuments to our true American heroes", Trump said, and "vertical take-off and landing vehicles… Just as the United States led the automotive revolution in the last century, I want to ensure that America, not China, leads this revolution in air mobility."

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