CANBERRA - Australia has signed up to a global treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas.

Penny Wong, the minister for foreign affairs, and Tanya Plibersek, the minister for water and environment, announced in a joint statement on Wednesday night that Australia has become a founding signatory of the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty.

Formally adopted by the United Nations in June, the treaty aims to protect, care for, and ensure the responsible use of marine environments that lie more than 200 nautical miles offshore, which make up approximately 60 percent of the world's oceans.

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"The High Seas cover 60 percent of the world's surface and only about 1 percent of these oceans are currently protected. International cooperation to protect and manage them is crucial," Plibersek said in the joint statement.