High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN

After almost 20 years of talks, United Nations member states agree on legal framework for parts of the ocean outside national boundaries

The most important talks no one has heard of': why the high seas treaty matters

It has been almost two decades in the making, but late on Saturday night in New York, after days of gruelling round-the-clock talks, UN member states finally agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas.

A full day after the deadline for talks had officially passed, the conference president, Rena Lee of Singapore, took to the floor of room 2 of the UN headquarters in New York and announced that the treaty had been agreed. At a later date, the delegates will meet for half a day to formally adopt the text. She made it clear the text would not be reopened.