African and Commonwealth nations in Kenya press for swift High Seas Treaty action

Mombasa push for action

African and Commonwealth delegations meeting in Kenya used the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa to press governments to move quickly from supporting the High Seas Treaty to putting it into practice.

The gathering has taken on added significance because Kenya is hosting the 11th Our Ocean Conference, the first time the summit has been held in an African country. Delegates and organizers have framed that as a marker of Africa's growing influence in global ocean policy.

The treaty, formally known as the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, entered into force in January 2026 after 60 countries ratified it. Supporters say the next test is whether governments can now turn that legal milestone into real protection for the open ocean.

Why the treaty matters

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the agreement creates a legal path to establish protected areas in international waters. That matters because those waters lie beyond any single country's control, but they are increasingly under pressure from fishing, shipping, pollution and climate change.

The treaty is widely seen as a key instrument for protecting biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, which cover much of the ocean. Its backers argue that it can help move marine conservation from broad promises to enforceable action where no national law previously reached.

Kenyan officials made the same point in more direct political terms. Hassan Joho, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary of Maritime Affairs, said the challenge is to turn ocean pledges into concrete protection measures rather than leaving them as statements of intent.

The conference is drawing delegates from Africa, the United States, the European Union and climate-vulnerable Caribbean and Pacific island nations, reflecting the broad coalition that has backed the treaty and ocean protection efforts.

What happens next

The immediate question is whether the conference produces a joint statement, new deadlines or fresh implementation commitments tied to the treaty. Another open issue is how governments will handle enforcement, financing and the practical steps needed to make the agreement work on the water.

The push for faster implementation also fits a wider pattern in ocean diplomacy: governments have made many pledges, but follow-through has often lagged behind the announcements. Mombasa has become a test of whether that can change.

A separate AP report from the same conference said 15 countries adopted the Mombasa Declaration to fight illegal fishing, underscoring that the summit is generating multiple ocean-policy commitments at once. Whether those promises endure will depend on what governments do after the conference ends.