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The Agreement Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation & Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2024

Nathaniel Yong-Ern Khng
Nathaniel Yong-Ern Khng*
Affiliation:
LL.B. (Hons) (Melb), LL.M. (Yale), Advocate and Solicitor (Singapore), Australian Lawyer (Victoria, Australia), Foreign Legal Consultant (New York, United States), Counsellor (Legal) at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations in New York.
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Extract

On June 19, 2023, the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference) adopted, by consensus, the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine BioLogical Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement or Agreement). The Agreement, which is grounded in and builds on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), specifically addresses issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of the marine biodiversity of the high seas. The adoption of the Agreement was the culmination of nearly two decades of work under the auspices of the UN General Assembly.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , February 2024 , pp. 1 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law

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Footnotes

Nathaniel served as a member of the Presidency team for the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference and as the coordinator of UN General Assembly resolution 77/321 of August 1, 2023 on the BBNJ Agreement. All views expressed in this note are personal.

References

ENDNOTES

1 Report of the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference at its fifth session, ¶ 28, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.232/2023/5 (June 30, 2023).

2 BBNJ Agreement, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.232/2023/4 (June 19, 2023). Certified true copy of the Agreement available at https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/2023/06/20230620%2004-28%20PM/Ch_XXI_10.pdf (last accessed Jan. 1, 2024).

3 UNCLOS, the constitution for the oceans, contains principles that are relevant and applicable for such issues. However, not all activities affecting biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, including their cumulative effects, and not all components of marine biodiversity are specifically addressed in UNCLOS and other international instruments. See U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, Oceans and the Law of the Sea, Addendum, ¶ 314, U.N. Doc. A/60/63/Add.1 (July 15, 2005).

4 Letter dated June 30, 2023 from the President of BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference addressed to the President of the General Assembly, p. 1, U.N. Doc. A/77/945 (June 30, 2023).

5 See U.N. G.A. Rep. of the Secretary-General, supra note 3, Addendum, ¶ 9.

6 Id.; see also G.A. Res. 59/24, ¶ 73, U.N. Doc. A/RES/59/24 (Nov. 17, 2004).

7 See Letter dated June 30, 2011 from the Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group addressed to the President of the General Assembly, Annex, ¶ 1(b), U.N. Doc. A/66/119 (June 30, 2011).

8 See G.A. Res. 69/292, U.N. Doc. A/RES/69/292 (June 19, 2015).

9 See G.A. Res. 72/249, U.N. Doc. A/RES/72/249 (Dec. 24, 2017).

10 Report of the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference at its fifth session, supra note 1, ¶ 20.

11 See BBNJ Agreement, supra note 2, art. 7.

12 Id. art. 5.

13 Id. part IX. The approach for disputes of a technical nature draws from Article 29 of the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

14 Id. art. 47.

15 Id. part II. The inclusion of DSI was raised and agreed to at the resumed fifth session following developments at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in which it was decided, amongst other things, that benefits from the use of DSI on genetic resources should be shared fairly and equitably. See Fifteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Decision CBD/COP/DEC/15/9 (Dec. 19, 2022).

16 See BBNJ Agreement, supra note 2, part V.

17 Id. part III. See also the understanding of article 18 reflected in the Report of the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference at its fifth session, supra note 1, ¶ 27(a).

18 See BBNJ Agreement, supra note 2, part IV. See also the understanding on EIAs reflected in the Report of the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference at its fifth session, supra note 1, ¶ 27(b).

19 See e.g. Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's National Statement at the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference (June 19, 2023), in Compilation of statements made by delegations under item 5, “General exchange of views”, at the further resumed fifth session of the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference, as submitted by June 30, 2023, pp. 93-94, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.232/2023/INF.5 (Aug. 3, 2023).

20 G.A. Res. 77/321, U.N. Doc. A/RES/77/321 (Aug. 1, 2023).