On 19 June 2023, after nearly two decades of talks, governments adopted the international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The new high seas treaty opens for signature on 20 September 2023 and will require 60 ratifications to enter into force.

Negotiations on the agreement concluded in early March 2023, but “the draft text had to undergo a technical edit by an informal open-ended working group before it could be adopted,” reports the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB). At a resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), held in New York, US, from 19-20 June, “the ship … arrived at the port.” However, as Cameroon noted during the session, “difficult maneuvers are required so that it can be safely docked.”

While a “sense of historic achievement was palpable,” as ENB notes in its analysis of the meeting, delegates recognized that “concrete steps are necessary to put words into action and move towards effective implementation,” including speedy ratification by major players. In addition, cooperation and synergies with other instruments, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will be central to the agreement’s success.

The IGC’s negotiations focused on four elements:

• Marine genetic resources (MGRs), including benefit-sharing considerations;
• Area-based management tools, including marine protected areas (MPAs);
• Environmental impact assessments (EIAs); and
• Capacity building and the transfer of marine technology (CB&TT).

The talks also addressed cross-cutting issues, including the principles and approaches governing the new instrument, financial and technical considerations, institutional arrangements, and dispute settlement measures.

According to ENB, several members of the IGC welcomed provisions relating to the principles of equity and of the common heritage of humankind, as well as those related to the establishment of subsidiary bodies to guide implementation. They “lauded the establishment of a special fund for the sharing of monetary benefits derived from MGRs and digital sequence information, as well as a CB&TT Committee.”

Several also called for “robust resource mobilization efforts to bolster the Agreement’s implementation.” The ENB analysis cites “an estimate by the Blue Nature Alliance [which] notes that robust protection, management, and monitoring of MPAs covering 30% of the high seas could cost the global community up to about USD 7 billion in establishment costs and slightly more than USD 1 billion in annual operating costs.”

ENB has tracked and reported on the BBNJ process since the first meeting of the BBNJ Working Group in February 2006. In its last report on the talks, it notes that while “now is the time for celebration, … ‘the real work now lies before us’ in operationalizing this newly minted Agreement.” [ENB Coverage of Further Resumed Fifth Session of IGC on BBNJ]