High Seas

After two decades of negotiations at the United Nations, the BBNJ Agreement (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), often called the High Seas Treaty, was adopted and opened for signature in 2023. The ‘race for ratification’ is now on and hopes are high that the 60 ratifications needed to allow it to enter into force will be submitted with the UN Secretary-General by the next UN Ocean Conference in Nice in June 2025. An organizational session of the Preparatory Commission (PrepCom) met in June 2024 and agreed on a schedule and programme of work, preparing for its entry into force and the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP), due to take place in New York until a decision has been taken as to where the secretariat should be located. The PrepCom will meet in April and August 2025, pending approval by the UN General Assembly. See here for ENB’s summary report.

Find out more about the treaty here.