Thread by @MarinePolicy

The final round of negotiations for a treaty to protect marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (#BBNJ) kicks off today at @UN HQ!

Here's a quick recap of what's going on [thread 🧵]
#IGC5 #UNCLOS

We used to think the #highseas were a deadzone and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (#UNCLOS) doesn't say all that much about its protection.

We now know that these deep & distant waters are full of biodiversity and are a massive carbon sink.

Covering nearly half the planet, these areas beyond national jursidiction (#ABNJ) are increasingly threatened by:
🎣 Fishing
🚢 Shipping
♨️ Global heating/acidifcation/deoxygenation
⛏️ Seabed mining

Not to mention future uses (e.g. Google holds patents for subsea servers)

States have been negotiating a new #BBNJ treaty, which has been a long time coming: the Informal Consultative Process discussed marine protection 20 years ago and one delegation mentioned ABNJ!

In 2012, 10 years and multiple meetings of an "ad hoc open-ended informal working group" later, States at Rio+20 committed to address conservation of #BBNJ “on an urgent basis”…

Another 10 years later and here we are, on the precipice of adopting a dedicated #BBNJ agreement.

The @HighSeasAllianc timeline lays it all out: highseasalliance.org/high-seas-alli…

The treaty will provide further detail on States' obligations under #UNCLOS and the means to ensure conservation & sustainable use of #BBNJ.

What's on the menu? Since 2011, negotiations have focussed on a ‘package deal’ that includes:
🧬 Marine genetic resources (MGRs)
📝 Environmental impact assessment (EIA)
🐋 Biodiversity management & protection
👩🏽‍🔬 Capacity building & tech transfer (CB/TT)

🧬MGRs
Can be used to make drugs & other good stuff, but their legal status is unclear and few States have the capacity to develop these resources

Note that seabed minerals beyond national jurisdiction are considered the “Common Heritage of Humankind” (which means they have to be exploited/conserved for the benefit of all). Many, especially developing States, have argued strongly that this applies to MGRs too.

🧬 MGRs: key issues
• Who can access MGRs? Under what conditions?
• How to share the benefits from utilising MGRs?
• How to ensure that all States can participate?

📝 EIA
• UNCLOS provisions are limited, outdated & poorly implemented
• No provision for strategic assessments

📝 EIA: key issues
• How to operationalise EIA
• Standards, triggers & processes
• Extent of “internationalisation” (i.e. whether a State or international process/body should oversee assessments and decide whether to permit an activity)

🐋 Management & protection
• Area-based management tools (ABMTs)
• Marine protected areas (MPAs)

States have made huge MPA commitments but there's no mechanism to create high seas MPAs

🐋 ABMTs/MPAs: key issues
• Process for proposing/implementing protections
• Role of existing bodies & the COP
• Strengthening protection without undermining existing bodies
• Moving beyond "cooperation & coordination" to concrete objectives/obligations

👩🏽‍🔬 CB/TT
• UNCLOS talks big on capacity development, but implementation hasn't matched the ambition
• Developing States are calling for more support so they can effectively participate in the management of BBNJ

👩🏽‍🔬 CB/TT: key issues
• Whether capacity development efforts should be mandatory/voluntary
• How to enhance capacity building efforts & integrate with current initiatives

Some consensus has been found after years of back-and-forth, though ideological differences remain stark.

This is nothing new for the law of the sea - the same concerns plagued the UNCLOS negotiations, as described by this 1978 paper.

The President of the IGC, Rena Lee 🇸🇬, recently released a revised draft text of the agreement📜

🔗 un.org/bbnj/sites/www….

📜 Revised draft
• streamlined: options removed/merged
• reflects "general thrust" of States' ideas/proposals
• new wording to bridge divides

*but*

• still a lot of bracketed text (~280!)
• many provisions (~30) with multiple conceptually different options

On the specific package items, the revised text reflects widely divergent views on key provisions.

(And don't forget, States remain completely at liberty to endorse or dismiss the provisions of the draft, as well as propose amendments and new text)

📜Draft - 🧬MGRs
• "Common Heritage" is bracketed in general principles & MGRs sections
• Benefit-sharing options still primarily distinguished by whether or not this should be mandatory and include monetary benefits

📜Draft - 📝EIA
• Key provisions undecided; substantially different options are on the table
• Some options based on a low-ambition adherence to outdated UNCLOS provisions

📜Draft - 🐋 ABMTs
• Definitions still muddled - need to ensure MPAs are for conservation
• Previous draft required Parties to take BBNJ criteria into account in other bodies
• "enhance cooperation & coordination" may be too general to provide a meaningful impetus for action

📜 Draft - 👩🏽‍🔬CB/TT
This sections looks pretty good to me, though I am no expert!

This @OneOceanHub briefing provides analysis & textual proposals for ensuring fair partnerships 🔗 oneoceanhub.org/wp-content/upl…)

📜Then there's some tricky overarching issues, e.g.:
• Powers of the COP
• Institutional framework & funding
• Relationship of the treaty with existing frameworks

See 🔗 iddri.org/en/publication…

📜There are some nice additions in the latest draft, e.g.:
• “stewardship” included as possible guiding principle
• option to establish an Implementation & Compliance Committee (see #STRONGhighseas report on why this matters 🔗 iddri.org/sites/default/…)

📜But there's also some missed opportunities, e.g. the treaty could strengthen the global framework for monitoring, control & surveillance (MCS), but the current draft says little on the issue (@cremersk #STRONGhighseas also covered this 🔗 iddri.org/sites/default/…)

In short, there's a lot left to be decided in 10 days! Can negotiators get it done?! That's the big question…

Much work was done in the last intersessional period & the programme is packed with “informal informals”, which will hopefully encourage negotiators to advance more quickly.

A High Ambition Coalition, announced at the One Ocean Summit (February, Brest), now includes 50 States that have expressed their commitment to finalising the treaty.

🔗 highseasalliance.org/2022/03/01/one…

At the UN Ocean Conference (July, Lisbon), many States reiterated their commitment.

Will this translate into an ambitious treaty?

This @MARIPOLDATA blog has some thoughts 🔗 maripoldata.eu/un-oceans-conf…

The treaty would be an exclamation point to this Ocean ‘Super Year’
✅ @WTO agreement on harmful fisheries subsidies
✅ @UNENV Assembly decision on plastics treaty
✅ Second UN Ocean Conference
✅ Growing calls for @ISBA to slow down the rush to mine the deep seabed

Keen to dive deeper?

• Guide to the #BBNJ negotiations
🔗iddri.org/sites/default/… @IDDRI_ThinkTank / @IDDRI_English

• Commentary on the draft
🔗iucn.org/sites/default/… @IUCN / @IucnOcean

(sidenote: a @HolySeeUN🇻🇦 negotiator once joked that our guide to the negotiations is their bible 😂)

As usual, @IISD_ENB will be reporting at #IGC5 🔗 enb.iisd.org/marine-biodive…

And keep an eye on the @HighSeasAllianc Treaty Tracker too 🔗 highseasalliance.org/treatytracker/

Here's a list of some of the lovely folks that have worked so hard to get the #BBNJ discussions this far: twitter.com/i/lists/714457…

(an incomplete list, so please @ me with any additions!)

That's about it! @CremersK & I will be there for week 2 - please do come and say hi! 👋