At UN-Oceans Meeting, High-Level Officials Commit to Join Forces, Advance Marine Biodiversity Treaty
NEW YORK, 18 January 2024 (Office of Legal Affairs) — On 16 January 2024, principals of organizations participating in UN-Oceans endorsed a statement of commitments to strengthen and promote coordination and coherence of United Nations system activities in relation to 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).
Lauding the recent adoption of the Agreement as a vital achievement since the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted more than 40 years ago, Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, in his capacity as the focal point of UN-Oceans, invited high-level representatives from across the United Nations system and the International Seabed Authority to seize the opportunity and join forces and deliver as one to provide the necessary assistance to States towards the ratification and implementation of the BBNJ instrument.
Since opening for signature on 20 September 2023, 83 States and the European Union have signed the Agreement (see SEA/2181). As States, civil society and United Nations entities embark upon the next critical phase towards the entry into force and implementation of the Agreement, Mr. Serpa Soares underscored that it is essential to maintain momentum and build capacity where needed.
The momentum for ocean affairs is reflected not only by the adoption of the BBNJ Agreement but also of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, as well as the ongoing negotiations to develop an international legally binding agreement on plastic pollution. This promising environment is set to be built upon at future meetings and conferences such as the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States and the 2025 United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Tasked with the interim performance of secretariat functions under the BBNJ Agreement, the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs was requested by the General Assembly to promote a better understanding of the instrument and prepare for its entry into force. Mr. Serpa Soares emphasized his commitment, together with his UN-Oceans high-level partners, towards supporting these endeavours through enhancing inter-agency coordination and cooperation, and the sharing of information, in particular through UN-Oceans.
During the meeting, a number of high-level representatives of the organizations participating in UN-Oceans took the floor to highlight their planned contributions towards promoting a better understanding of the Agreement and supporting its future implementation.
They included David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity; Ivonne Higuero, Secretary-General, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; Natalia Gherman, Executive Director, Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED); Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); Vera Agostini, Deputy Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Najat Mokhtar, Deputy Director-General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary General, International Maritime Organization (IMO); Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary/Assistant Director General, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); Michael W. Lodge, Secretary General, International Seabed Authority; Rabab Fatima, Under-Secretary-General, High Representative, United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States; Pedro Manuel Moreno, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Marcos Neto, Assistant Secretary-General, Director of the Bureau for Programme and Policy Support, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Susan Gardner, Director, Ecosystems Division, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga, Director of the Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress Division, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Ralf Bredel, Director and Representative, New York Liaison Office, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Director-General, United Nations Office at Vienna; and Fabrizio Feliciani, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
The meeting was also attended by principals and/or representatives of the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the World Bank.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the participating members of UN-Oceans endorsed an informal statement of commitments in relation to the Agreement. Among other things, these included promoting a better understanding of the Agreement and preparations for its entry into force; regular sharing of information on activities related to the Agreement, with a view to identifying possible areas for collaboration and synergy; exchanging experiences, best practices, tools and methodologies; and considering organizing joint activities aimed at supporting States and regional economic integration organizations in relation to the Agreement and its complementarity with relevant legal instruments, frameworks and bodies.
Background
UN-Oceans is an inter-agency mechanism that seeks to enhance the coordination, coherence and effectiveness of competent organizations of the United Nations system and the International Seabed Authority in relation to ocean and coastal areas, within existing resources, in conformity with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the respective competences of each of its participating organizations and the mandates and priorities approved by their respective governing bodies. It has 30 members consisting of United Nations system organizations with competence in activities related to ocean and coastal areas and the International Seabed Authority.
UN-Oceans was established by the United Nations High-Level Committee on Programmes in 2003 in the follow-up to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development. Its establishment responded to the call addressed to the Secretary-General to establish an effective, transparent and regular inter-agency coordination mechanism on ocean and coastal issues within the United Nations system.
As per its terms of reference, the mandate of UN-Oceans includes, among others, to: strengthen and promote coordination and coherence of United Nations system activities related to ocean and coastal areas; regularly share ongoing and planned activities of participating organizations within the framework of relevant United Nations and other mandates with a view to identifying possible areas for collaboration and synergy; and facilitate inter-agency information exchange, including sharing of experiences, best practices, tools and methodologies and lessons learned in ocean-related matters.
As the third implementing accord under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Agreement is the first comprehensive, cross-sectoral ocean treaty in decades. By establishing specific mechanisms for cross-sectoral cooperation to implement its various provisions, the BBNJ Agreement has the potential to introduce more integrated, holistic approaches to the management of ocean activities. Its effective and timely implementation can also make crucial contributions to other ocean-related processes, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 14, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Under the overall objective of ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, for the present and in the long term, through effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and further international cooperation and coordination, the Agreement sets out: specific measures for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction; specific modalities to establish, implement and monitor those measures; and institutional arrangements to oversee the implementation of the Agreement and of these measures.
For additional information on UN-Oceans see www.un.org/depts/los/coop_coor/un_oceans.htm . Information on the Agreement is available under www.un.org/bbnj.