News

The High Seas Alliance welcomes the release of the draft text of an 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 (see Draft Text), and congratulates the President of the Intergovernmental Conference, Ambassador Rena Lee, on this achievement.

Continue reading High Seas Alliance – Key Recommendation for IGC3 on the President’s Text

As negotiations progress for a new international legally binding instrument (‘Instrument’) on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), the relationship of this new BBNJ Instrument to existing regional and sectoral organizations remains a point of intense debate. The new Instrument presents an opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of existing relevant legal instruments and organizations and bring forward a more coherent and comprehensive approach to the protection and conservation of marine biodiversity in the high seas. This briefing offers examples from existing regional and sectoral organizations to illustrate systemic challenges to conserving biodiversity in ABNJ under the current fragmented ocean governance system. These challenges include:

(i) implementation of the ecosystem and precautionary approach;
(ii) cooperation and communication across sectors;
(iii) adherence to scientific advice;
(iv) achieving consensus on decisions needed to protect biodiversity;
(v) considering climate change impacts in management decisions;
and (vi) inadequate implementation of States’ obligations to conduct environmental impact assessments.

Continue reading HSA’s Newest Brief – Lessons Learned from Regional and Sectoral Organizations for Conservation in ABNJ