BBNJ Agreement

The BBNJ Agreement — formally 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 — is the third implementing agreement to UNCLOS, alongside the 1994 Part XI Agreement and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement. It is often called the "High Seas Treaty" or "Treaty of the High Seas."

The text was adopted by consensus at the UN in New York on 19 June 2023 after nearly two decades of preparatory work and four intergovernmental conference sessions chaired by Singapore's Rena Lee. It opened for signature on 20 September 2023 and requires 60 ratifications to enter into force.

The agreement covers four substantive pillars:

• Marine genetic resources (MGRs), including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits — a long-contested North-South issue echoing debates under the Nagoya Protocol.
• Area-based management tools, including the establishment of high-seas marine protected areas (MPAs).
• Environmental impact assessments for activities in or affecting areas beyond national jurisdiction.
• Capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology to developing states.

The treaty applies to roughly two-thirds of the ocean — waters outside the 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zones defined by UNCLOS. It creates a Conference of the Parties, a Scientific and Technical Body, a Clearing-House Mechanism, and an access-and-benefit-sharing financial mechanism.

The BBNJ Agreement is widely viewed as essential to delivering the "30 by 30" target adopted in the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030. It also intersects with the mandate of the International Seabed Authority over the Area and with regional fisheries management organizations, though it does not override existing competent bodies.