REDESCA Highlights the Link Between Ocean Protection and Human Rights on World Oceans Day

June 8, 2025

Washington, DC—The Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (REDESCA) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urges States to strengthen their commitments to ocean protection—especially in the high seas—as an integral part of their human rights obligations. On the occasion of World Oceans Day and the United Nations Ocean Conference taking place in Nice, the Special Rapporteurship highlights the inextricable link between the conservation of marine ecosystems and the guarantee of human rights in the region and around the world. Without healthy oceans, it will be impossible for States to fully comply with their international obligations, including the protection of the rights to life, health, food, safe drinking water, culture, and the sustainable development of their peoples.

REDESCA recalls that the right to a healthy environment is a human right recognized in the Inter-American Human Rights System and in international law. In Advisory Opinion 23/17, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights affirmed that environmental protection is essential to the enjoyment of other rights, recognizing for the first time the right to a healthy environment as an autonomous and fundamental human right. Moreover, it has been emphasized that States must prevent and address environmental degradation that may affect the effective exercise of human rights, both within and beyond their borders. Marine pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change are interconnected phenomena that exacerbate inequality and threaten the livelihoods of millions across the Americas—imposing on States a duty to act with due diligence to prevent and mitigate these harms.

The Special Rapporteurship closely monitors recent and ongoing jurisprudential developments in international environmental and human rights law, which reinforce the obligation of States to protect the ocean and the rights of the people and communities that depend on it. In 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea issued a landmark advisory opinion affirming that greenhouse gas emissions constitute marine pollution and referred to the obligation of States to take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce, and control such pollution in accordance with the principle of due diligence. In this context, REDESCA takes note of the advisory opinions currently being prepared by the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which may further consolidate and expand these obligations, including the duty to adopt reparatory measures in response to forced displacement and the degradation of critical marine ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs. The convergence between international jurisprudence and inter-American standards reaffirms that protecting the ocean is inseparable from upholding human rights and the principle of climate justice.

In light of these developments and challenges, REDESCA has welcomed the diplomatic achievement represented by the 2023 adoption of the High Seas Treaty (formally, the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction), a legally binding instrument aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. However, for this instrument to enter into force and fulfill its potential, ratification by at least 60 States is required. To date, fewer than half of that number have deposited their ratifications, making it imperative to accelerate the pace.

In this regard, REDESCA calls on the OAS Member States to ratify the High Seas Treaty. As a region with vast coastlines and ocean zones of global importance—including the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and the Atlantic—the Americas have a direct interest in the preservation of marine ecosystems beyond national jurisdiction.

The Special Rapporteurship underscores the importance of incorporating a human rights-based approach to ocean governance. This means ensuring the informed and effective participation of directly affected communities in decisions regarding marine conservation, the equitable distribution of benefits derived from ocean resources, and the adoption of climate adaptation and mitigation measures grounded in social justice. In particular, it is essential to guarantee the rights of Indigenous Peoples, coastal communities, and populations of small island developing States, who maintain ancestral and dependent relationships with the sea. These populations—among the most vulnerable to ocean degradation—must be heard and protected: pollution, overfishing, coral reef destruction, sea level rise, and other environmental impacts directly affect their rights to food, water, health, housing, culture, and even self-determination.

The Special Rapporteurship also expresses concern about the growing risks posed by the potential expansion of deep-seabed mining (DSM) and offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation, particularly in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Both activities, driven by the demand for resources for the energy transition or the maintenance of fossil fuel-based energy models, pose severe and potentially irreversible threats to marine biodiversity, climate stability, and the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights. Available scientific evidence warns of cumulative impacts on ocean ecosystem services, the ocean's carbon storage capacity, and the rights to food, health, culture, and a healthy environment of coastal communities, Indigenous Peoples, and small island developing States. In this context, REDESCA underscores the obligation of States to apply the precautionary principle in relation to these extractive activities, including the possibility of declaring a moratorium or precautionary pause, as long as there are no adequate regulatory frameworks, sufficient scientific evidence, and effective participatory processes to ensure the prevention of significant harm to the marine environment and the full enjoyment of human rights.

On this World Oceans Day, REDESCA calls on States to strengthen international environmental cooperation, deepen their commitments to marine conservation, and ensure effective protection for individuals and communities who defend ocean ecosystems. Only through actions guided by the principles of solidarity, climate justice, and intergenerational equity will it be possible to preserve the integrity of the oceans and protect the human rights of present and future generations.

The Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights is an office established by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) with the objective of strengthening the promotion and protection of economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights throughout the Americas, leading the Commission's efforts in this area.

No. RD116/25

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