The United Nations has reached an historic deal to protect marine life in the high seas after a decade of intense negotiations.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the ship has reached the shore," declared Rena Lee, U.N. Conference President.
"Our children don't go on excursions, they go on learning journeys. And I can safely say that this has been the learning journey of a lifetime."
But before reaching the shore was a decade of failed talks.
The two week talks in New York were expected to end last Friday, but the marathon stretched deep into Saturday.
Negotiators from more than 100 countries agreed on the High Seas Treaty -- a legally binding deal that aims to mark 30 percent of the high seas protected areas by 2030 in a bid to safeguard biodiversity within international waters.
The treaty will create a new body to manage marine life conservation in regions outside national boundary waters.
It also establishes ground rules for conducting environmental impact assessments for commercial activities in the oceans.
The last international agreement on ocean protection -- the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea -- came into force in 1994, before marine biodiversity was a well-established concept.
Biodiversity is critical to keeping the Earth in balance by generating oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide and excess heat.
Today's breakthrough marks a milestone for vast stretches of the planet where marine conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws.
But experts insist there's still plenty of work to do on the way forward.
"We've got to make sure that it's implemented consistently, so when it's written on paper and agreed on paper, that's what happens at sea," says Simon Walmsley, Chief Marine Advisor, WWF U.K.
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