Treaty on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)

(MainsGS2: Important International institutions, agencies and fora - their structure, mandate.)

Context:

Recently, the UN member states agreed on a historic treaty for protecting marine life in international waters that lie outside the jurisdiction of any country, marking the culmination of over a decade of negotiations to protect the high seas that cover nearly two-thirds of the global ocean.

Agreed treaty:

The draft agreement of the ‘High Seas Treaty’ recognises the need to address biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems of the ocean and proposes rules to protect oceans outside national borders and regarding the sustainable use of its resources.
It places “30% of the world’s oceans into protected areas, puts more money into marine conservation and covers access to and use of marine genetic resources,” as per the United Nations.
A marine protected area (MPA) is defined as a “geographically defined marine area that is designated and managed to achieve specific long-term biodiversity conservation objectives and may allow, where appropriate, sustainable use provided it is consistent with the conservation objectives.”
An important negotiating point, and source of tension during the talks, was developing countries’ access to benefits reaped from the commercialisation of resources (especially genetic resources) extracted from the ocean.
The treaty has agreed to set up an access- and benefit-sharing committee to frame guidelines.
It was also underlined that activities concerning marine genetic resources of areas on high seas should be in the interests of all States and for the benefit of humanity.
Additionally, sustainable use has been a guiding principle of the treaty, with significant ramifications for the fishing industry and the promotion of biodiversity conservation.

Counter the destructive trends:

The ‘breakthrough’ followed protracted talks led by the UN during the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) in New York where negotiations on the draft treaty were underway for the past two weeks.
In a statement, UN chief Secretary-General António Guterres said the agreement was a “victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean health” and added that the pact will be crucial for addressing the planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

About high seas:

Parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial waters or the internal waters of a country are known as the high seas, according to the 1958 Geneva Convention on the High Seas.
Simply put, it is the area beyond a country’s Exclusive Economic Zone which extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coastline and till where a nation has jurisdiction over living and non-living resources.
No country is responsible for the management and protection of resources on the high seas.

Important of high seas:

The high seas account for more than 60% of the world’s ocean area and cover about half of the Earth’s surface, which makes them a hub of marine life.
They are home to around 2.7 lakh known species, many of which are yet to be discovered.
The high seas are fundamental to human survival and well-being.
“The high seas regulate the climate by playing a fundamental role in planetary stability by mitigating the effects of climate change through its absorption of carbon and by storing solar radiation and distributing heat around the globe.
In addition, the ocean provides a wealth of resources and services, including seafood and raw materials, genetic and medicinal resources, air purification, climate regulation, and aesthetic, scientific and cultural services,” states the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Anthropogenic pressures:

These oceans absorb heat from the atmosphere, are affected by phenomena like the El Nino, and are also undergoing acidification — all of which endanger marine flora and fauna.
Several thousand marine species are at a risk of extinction by 2100 if current warming and acidification trends continue.
Anthropogenic pressures on the high seas include seabed mining, noise pollution, chemical spills and fires, disposal of untreated waste (including antibiotics), overfishing, introduction of invasive species, and coastal pollution.
Despite the alarming situation, the high seas remain as one of the least-protected areas, with only about 1% of it under protection.

Governing the oceans:

In 1982, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS was adopted which delineated rules to govern the oceans and the use of its resources but there was no comprehensive legal framework that covered the high seas.
As climate change and global warming emerged as global concerns, a need was felt for an international legal framework to protect oceans and marine life.
After years of informal discussions, the UNGA decided in 2015 to develop a legally binding instrument within the framework of UNCLOS, subsequently, the IGC was convened to frame a legal instrument on BBNJ.
There were several hold-ups due to the COVID pandemic, hampering a timely global response.
Last year, the European Union launched the High Ambition Coalition on BBNJ to finalise the agreement at the earliest.
At the Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), countries agreed to protect 30% of oceans by 2030, as part of the ’30 x 30 pledge’ made by the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in December.
On February 20, IGC negotiations resumed with the conclusive round and a binding document was finally agreed upon by member states after two weeks on March 4.

Drawbacks of the treaty:

The treaty falls short of addressing some key threats that affect ocean biodiversity, notably fishing and industrial expansion, such as deep-seabed mining.
Access- and benefit-sharing has always been a highly negotiated principle within any treaty, and this treaty requires fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources.
However, it stops short of discussing the sharing of any other type of resource.
Another key challenge that the treaty failed to address is to identify a suitable international enforcement agency that could monitor and enforce the regulations laid out by the treaty.
Such an enforcement body would also require a financial commitment – another issue that has not been negotiated or included.

Conclusion:

Clearly, the new ‘High Seas Treaty’ is just the beginning of a long and tedious process of regulating various aspects of human use in international oceans.