DAWN attended the organizational meeting for the BBNJ Conference that took place in the United Nations Headquarters in New York, 16-18 April 2018.

Over 3 billion people rely on oceans and seas for their livelihoods, which produces a third of the earth’s oxygen and are key in maintaining the earth’s ecosystem by moderating global climate conditions. However, the oceans are at risk of major degradation unless the simultaneous pressures that oceans are currently facing are addressed. It is critical to develop a binding treaty aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity to assist this.

These were some of the issues highlighted in the opening session of the Organizational Meeting for the Intergovernmental Conference on an International Legally Binding Instrument 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 conference), which took place from 16-18 April 2018 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

DAWN was represented at the meeting by Board Member Claire Slatter and Program Officer Mereoni Chung, who attended in partnership with the Coordinator of Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), Maureen Penjueli, with a view to engage in the process of contributing to the negotiations on the text of the Treaty, which will take place over four intergovernmental Conferences between September 2018 to 2020.

This historical new treaty will be the third global governance mechanism under UNCLOS, but the first aimed specifically at protecting marine biological diversity in the high seas. There are complex challenges and conflicting interests in the process to negotiate for the health of the ocean that balances conservation and the use of ocean resources.

Advocating for the earth’s last frontier

With linkages to the stand-alone goal on Oceans (SDG 14), which largely came about as a result of strong advocacy by Pacific SIDS (Small Island Developing States), this treaty has enormous implications for SIDS, as well as for developing states generally, whether coastal, landlocked or LDCs (Least Developed Countries). The multiple issues involved closely align with DAWN’s longstanding analytical and advocacy work around extractives, public-private partnerships, corporate accountability and protecting livelihoods, and PANG’s longstanding advocacy against Deep Sea Mining and in support of regional fisheries and self-determination.

The ocean is the earth’s last frontier, and interest in mining it for its considerable resources, both marine biological including genetic resources, and rare earth metals used in advanced technologies, is growing, not only among corporate entities but also among states.

DAWN and PANG’s collaborative engagement in this process is prompted by shared development priorities for strong accountability provisions under the new Treaty to govern access to and use of the ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction by corporations and states; and attaining equity in benefit sharing, including gender-equitable sharing of training opportunities and benefits from marine scientific and genetic research, and inter-generational equity, to protect the interests and rights of future generations.

After three days of deliberation, the meeting approved that discussion during the first session of the Conference will be organized around the four thematic clusters outlined in the report of the Preparatory Committee established by the General Assembly resolution 69/292:

• marine genetic resources, including questions on the sharing of benefits;
• measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas;
• environmental impact assessments; and
• capacity building and the transfer of marine technology.

It was also approved that by August the President of the Conference, Rena Lee (Singapore), will prepare a concise working document capturing the progress of discussions and identifying that needed to be further discussed in developing the new instrument.

Click here to watch the video of the final session of the meeting.

Background

In its resolution 72/249 of 24 December 2017, the General Assembly decided to convene an Intergovernmental Conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, to consider the recommendations of the Preparatory Committee established by resolution 69/292 of 19 June 2015 on the elements and to elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, with a view to developing the instrument as soon as possible. The first session is to be convened 4‑17 September 2018, the second and third sessions will take place in 2019 and the final session, expected to result in the adoption of a treaty, in the first half of 2020.

Related link: Click here to read the article Broadening Common Heritage: Addressing Gaps in the Deep Sea Mining Regulatory Regime, by Julie Hunter, Pradeep Singh, & Julian Aguon.