​[About BBNJ Agreement]

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On 19 June 2023 (local time), the United Nations will adopt a treaty called “the BBNJ Agreement”.

 

This treaty will complement the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also known as the ‘Law of the Sea Convention’ or the “Constitution for the Oceans”, which was adopted in 1982.

 

The provisional name of the new treaty is ‘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’. It is also called the ‘BBNJ Agreement’, which stands for ‘Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction’. The areas described as ‘beyond national jurisdiction’ refer to the high seas and deep seabed as defined by international law.

 

The BBNJ Agreement aims to respond to the many societal and environmental changes in the past forty years since UNCLOS was adopted and promote a vision of what the oceans should look like in the future. It includes a number of groundbreaking elements that will bring about a major shift in the law of the sea and international environmental law.

 

The BBNJ Agreement will therefore have important implications not only for international law, but also for policy responses that are necessary to deal with the changes to maritime activities. Such activities include the operation of fisheries, mineral resource development, navigation, and biodiversity sampling.

 

Tohoku University’s Center for International Law and Policy will continue to study and share its findings related to the legal issues and the academic and social significance of the BBNJ Agreement.

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