UN adopts historic treaty to protect international waters and marine life in high seas.

The United Nations has adopted the first-ever legally binding international treaty governing the high seas, known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty (BBNJ), which imposes rules aimed at protecting the environment and heading off disputes over natural resources, shipping and other matters in waters beyond any country's national jurisdiction. The treaty establishes a framework for "Marine Protected Areas" to counter biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems of the ocean caused by the impact of climate change, including warming and acidification of oceans, as well as plastics, pollutants and overfishing. The treaty will go into effect 120 days after it is ratified by at least 60 U.N. member nations individually.