By Sally Campbell, with thanks also to Ariana Densham, Greenpeace
The Global Ocean Treaty entered into force on 17th January 2026. The Treaty is now international law – the most significant victory for ocean protection and restoration. Greenpeace has been campaigning for 15 years with incredible supporters. Together with many organisations and hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, all have worked tirelessly for this victory.
Campaigners, coastal communities, small-scale fishers, scientists, and ocean lovers everywhere can hold on to this moment as proof that when millions of voices demand change, we can achieve what once seemed like a distant dream. On Arran too our voices and posters have been seen!
Why does the Global Ocean Treaty matter?
Our oceans are in crisis. Less than 1% of the High Seas are fully or highly protected, meaning they remain vulnerable to industrial fishing, oil drilling, and, maybe soon, even deep sea mining.
The Global Ocean Treaty has the power to change everything. For the first time, governments have a legal framework to create High Seas sanctuaries – vast protected areas outside of any country’s national waters, where fragile ecosystems can recover and thrive. If fully implemented, the Treaty could establish the largest network of ocean sanctuaries in history, covering over a third of our global oceans.
It is incredible to think that half of all biodiversity on Earth lives in the ocean. The Earth is more blue than green, but so much of that life remains hidden beneath the waves. Nudibranchs are fascinating, tiny, sea slugs that come in all kinds of dazzling colours and bizarre shapes. They have names like “blue dragons”, “sea angels”, “sea sheep” and there is even one called the “Pikachu sea-slug”, which are not just beautiful, their presence also indicates the health of the oceans.
We are still only beginning to understand the deep ocean’s importance. Seamounts – underwater mountains scattered across the High Seas – may act as signposts for migratory birds, and the deep sea may even play a role in oxygen production.
High Seas sanctuaries are not just about allowing wildlife to recover, they are crucial to helping us tackle the climate crisis, and for safeguarding food security for billions of people.
Decades in the making
The very first Greenpeace briefing on the need for an ocean treaty was written back in 2005. Since then, campaigners, scientists, Indigenous communities, and countless other organisations on every continent have worked so hard to build momentum.
Some of Ariana Densham’s most vivid memories of oceans campaigning come from time she has spent at sea. In 2014 she joined Greenpeace’s ship Esperanza on a trip to the Arctic to document how industrial fishing vessels were creeping further north as the ice retreated. She describes “I’ll never forget bouncing in a tiny RIB through huge swells to get a closer look at the catch of a fishing trawler. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.
On that journey Greenpeace recorded polar bears, whales, walruses, and so many seabirds – but also devastating amounts of plastic pollution. Seeing both the beauty and the threats on that trip really fuelled her determination.
Over the years, millions of supporters of the Oceans have spoken up for ocean protection. Many have signed petitions, marched in the streets, lobbied governments, and shared our love for the sea in ways that helped push world leaders towards agreement. To everyone who took action, however, wherever you are, YOU did it: This win belongs to all of us.
A message now to the UK government. NEXT VITAL STEPS
Shamefully the UK has dragged its feet and has not ratified the Treaty, despite being instrumental in its negotiation.
Last September – after a sustained campaign – the government did finally introduce the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill to Parliament. This was a vital first step towards ratification, but the process must now be completed quickly.
The Treaty is now international law so the UK needs to join other countries like China, France, Spain and Brazil and finish passing it into law as soon as possible. The very first Ocean COP could happen as soon as August this year, and the UK risks missing a once in a generational opportunity to fightback for nature. They need a seat at the table so they can champion an ambitious proposal to protect huge areas of the Atlantic Ocean, including the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic.
The starting whistle, not the finish line
World governments have committed to protect at least 30% of the oceans by 2030. But to achieve it, they will need to put more than 12 million square kilometres of the High Seas – an area bigger than Canada – off limits to destructive activity every single year until then. It is an enormous task, and the clock is ticking.
At the first Ocean COP, nations will finally be able to propose sanctuaries under the treaty. These need to be grounded in science, shaped with the participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and ensure full protection from harmful industries. We know High Seas sanctuaries work.
We do not need to imagine what fully protected sanctuaries could achieve. The Galápagos Marine Reserve was established more than two decades ago and expanded in 2022. It is an incredible living showcase of how ocean sanctuaries can help wildlife bounce back when given space and protection. Sharks, turtles, and manta rays are returning and fish stocks have recovered, spilling over into surrounding waters and supporting local fishers. Coral reefs and ecosystems are thriving there – proof that when destructive industries are kept out, marine life can rebound quickly.
If one sanctuary around a single island chain can deliver such hope and abundance, imagine what a whole network of High Seas sanctuaries – across vast stretches of international waters – could do. Together, all the supporters of the Oceans ecosystems made this happen. From Scotland to Antarctica, from British Independent territories to the mid oceanic ridges marine protection is vital.
As a marine ecologist I have a sense of gratitude for our collective achievement. Our persistence and determination have paid off and we have secured the biggest ocean protection victory yet. Now we must defend it, get ratification of the Treaty from the UK government as quickly as possible, ensure our MP Irene Campbell pushes for it at the UK Parliament, never giving up at this late stage, and then look to the future for widespread protection of our Oceans around the world.
BUT we need to do more collectively to make the ocean cleaner and more sustainable: Plastics, nurdles and microplastics are major hurdles to protecting ocean ecosystems. We need to be educating our communities, and in schools about the longer-term consequences of our association with use of plastics in packaging, and plastic bottles of all types. In mid-February 2026 Orkney reported plastic bottles and debris that appear to have originated in Canada and date back to the 1960s and 70s, having washed up on Howar Sands on Sanday.
Litter pickers say they are “overwhelmed” by the amount of plastic they have found on the shoreline at Howar Sands over the last few weeks. David Warner, who organises beach cleans, said he gathered 42 plastic bottles from the shore last year – yet already this year he has found hundreds. Experts blame “fairly extraordinary weather”, with strong south-easterly winds, for the increase in “retro rubbish”. Warner, 35, said some of the plastic bottles he has discovered on Sanday appear to have originated in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. He worries that even more detritus will wash up on the beach in the future. “It’s the first time since cleaning the beaches I’ve been overwhelmed by it,” “Usually, I clean the beaches with a group of volunteers and we’ll make a good go at it and it will seem clean after it. Then we’ll go three months later and the rubbish is back and we’re like “OK, that’s fine, it is what happens at least we’ll get it out the sea”. “But this time, the sheer amount, and the fact that there were so many polystyrene pieces that were so tiny meant that it was impossible to pick them up.” As the beach is a site of special scientific interest for nesting birds, the litter can also prove a hazard for wildlife. More than 300,000 pieces of polystyrene are estimated to have been lying on one stretch of sand. Some bottles found in Sanday are embellished with the logos of obsolete brands, proving the longevity of plastics in the ocean. The Marine Conservation Society said historic litter often washes up at this time of year due to the seasonal storms – and that eroding coastal landfill sites are releasing a lot of “retro” rubbish too.
What about Arran?? Closer to home the young people at Arran Youth Foundations have been busy with an exceptional sculpture of plastic bottles resembling a whale’s tail and a display of small plastic debris from Lamlash beach with explanation boards about the current use of plastics in our society. This is a “must visit” to Brodick Ferry Terminal; a vivid sculpture, information displays to inform and make us think about our use of and roles in keeping plastics out the ocean.
So, there is still much to do in the coming year:
- Get the Global Ocean Treaty ratified in law here by the UK government as soon as possible and hopefully by this summer 2026 in time for the UK to participate in the first Ocean COP*, and the UK propose an early Ocean Sanctuary in the Sargasso Sea.
- Control through legislation, the use of plastic bottles, plastic food packaging and plastics that are non-recyclable. Set in law recycling measures.
Sally Campbell
March 2026
*A reminder: What is the COP?
The annual supreme decision-making body of the UN climate change convention, where countries negotiate climate action (e.g. COP27 in Glasgow, COP30 in Brazil).
It is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.
Featured image shows part of the board in the Ferry Terminal in Brodick made with debris from the beach. Credit John Campbell.