After 10 years of difficult talks, nearly 200 countries agreed to a new United Nations ( UN ) agreement to protect the world ' s oceans. The agreement has been the first of its kind in 40 years. It plans to protect 30% of the open oceans by 2030.
Oceans cover about 71% of the Earth ' s surface and are home to hundreds of thousands of different kinds of animals and plants. Healthy oceans are a very important part of a healthy planet. But the oceans are in trouble. Overfishing （捕捞过度） has had a terrible effect on many kinds of fish and other animals. Pollution from ships and other places has caused serious problems. In 1982, an agreement described the " high seas （公海）", but it did not protect them. In these areas, all countries have the right to fish, send ships, and do research. The high seas cover about two — thirds of the ocean. But now people only protect 1.2% of the areas.
Last December, over 110 countries agreed to protect 30% of their land and ocean areas by 2030. Without an international agreement, there was no way to make this goal meaningful for the whole ocean. The new agreement now makes this feasible.
The new agreement tries to turn 30% of the high seas into protected areas by 2030. It also says that activities planned for the high seas must first be examined to see what kind of influences they might have on the ocean environment. Businesses in some countries hope to make a lot of money by getting valuable things from the bottom of the sea. Other businesses hope to find plants or animals in the ocean that could lead to new discoveries and new medicines.
Many of the disagreements were about how valuable things would be shared between rich countries and poor ones. Poor countries wanted to make sure that the valuable things would help everyone, not just people in rich countries.
