SOUTHEAST ASIA’S SHARED GOALS
For Southeast Asia, observers said the new pact also promises new tools, the potential for more scientific knowledge, increased access to oceans data and capacity building and financing.
Many Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states are biodiversity-rich, highly reliant on fisheries for protein and jobs and still building scientific and enforcement capacity.
The region is surrounded by the ocean, said Rena Lee, Singapore’s Ambassador for International Law and president of the Treaty negotiations, raising the stakes for involvement and leadership on high seas issues, even as many countries understandably focus first on coastal waters, where most fishing activity and community livelihoods are concentrated.
“What happens far out in the high seas, in the Pacific or Indian Ocean or even in the Atlantic, does have an impact on what happens in our near shore waters, in the coastal waters,” she said. “And what we do in our waters has an impact on the areas beyond national jurisdictions.”
Even landlocked nations like Laos have ratified the agreement, a reflection, Lee said, of regional keenness to tap into open science and the transfer of technology, which the treaty provisions for.
Migratory fish, ocean currents and climate processes are part of a single, fluid system. That ecological connectivity means high-seas governance can have direct effects on coastal fisheries, food security and the “blue economy” plans of ASEAN states, said Rizza Sacra-Dejucos, Asia Regional Coordinator of the High Seas Alliance.
Those might include sustainable fishing, marine tourism, aquaculture or offshore energy.
“We cannot talk about the blue economy without talking about a sustainable ocean economy, and about the high seas,” she added, giving an example of highly-valued commercial species like tuna, which migrate in international waters.
“Protecting these waters is very essential so that we maintain a balanced ecosystem where these species can thrive and eventually continue to support coastal communities,” she said.
For ASEAN, the experts said it could be an opportunity for better regional cooperation. But internal dynamics, varying maritime priorities and institutional capacities means a unified regional front is not assured, Nightingale said.
“It’s very hard to find those sort of common agendas and collaborative objectives. But yes, of course, the door stands open for ASEAN to play that leadership role,” she said.
She described Indonesia as having had a pivotal influence in advancing the high seas agenda to this point.
Sacra-Dejucos added that Singapore had acted as a “bridge builder” for stronger regional cooperation and the Philippines “very vocal as a champion” for MPAs.
One practical way Southeast Asian nations could advance a shared goal would be to push for an MPA in nearby international waters.
Under the treaty, acting collectively would provide greater ecological impact, political weight and practical benefits than acting alone.
Tanthanawit said she had seen firsthand the type of environment, seemingly in the middle of an ocean expanse, that could receive critical global protection in the years to come.
She spent a month travelling to and from the Saya de Malha Bank in the Indian Ocean in 2024. It is a vast, shallow underwater plateau that scientists believe could be the largest seagrass meadow in the world, despite its remoteness and being barely visible from the surface.
It is considered a strong candidate as a future high-sea MPA.
“In a remote area, you didn’t expect so much life underwater. And you see sea grass that looks like a football field,” she said. “It was quite an experience to be able to witness that.”