UN adopts historic pact for conservation, sustainable use of marine biodiversity
20 June 2023 |
1:53 am
The United Nations, yesterday, in New York, adopted a historic agreement to ensure conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The United Nations, yesterday, in New York, adopted a historic agreement to ensure conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Building on the legacy of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, this groundbreaking pact significantly strengthens the legal framework for conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in over two-thirds of the ocean.
It provides an essential framework for cross-sectoral cooperation between and among states and other stakeholders to promote sustainable development of the ocean and its resources in addition to addressing the manifold pressures it faces. The effective and timely implementation of the agreement would make crucial contributions to achieving the ocean-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The accord addresses four key issues. One, it sets up a framework for fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from activities with respect to marine genetic resources and digital sequence information on areas beyond national jurisdiction, by ensuring that such activities benefit all of humanity.
Two, it will enable the establishment of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, to conserve and sustainably manage vital habitats and species on the high seas and international seabed area. Such measures are critical for archiving the “30 by 30” global target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 per cent of world’s terrestrial and inland water areas, and of marine and coastal areas by 2030, as agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Three, it will ensure that environmental impacts of activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction are assessed and considered in decision-making. It also provides, for the first time, an international legal framework for assessment of the cumulative impacts of activities and consequences of climate change, ocean acidification and related impacts, in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Four, it will facilitate cooperation in capacity-building and transfer of marine technology to assist parties in achieving objectives of the pact, by enthroning a level playing field for all states to responsibly utilise and benefit from marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Furthermore, the agreement addresses several cross-cutting issues, such as its relationship with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and relevant legal instruments and frameworks, as well as relevant global, regional, subregional and sectoral bodies, besides funding and dispute settlement.
It also sets up institutional arrangements, including a Conference of the Parties, a Scientific and Technical Body and other subsidiary bodies of the Conference of the Parties, a Clearing-House Mechanism and a secretariat.
The agreement will be open for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York for two years from September 20, 2023, the day after the 2023 SDG Summit. It will come into force after ratification by 60 states. The Secretary-General is required to convene the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Agreement no later than one year after its coming into force.
“You have pumped new life and hope to give the ocean a fighting chance,” Secretary-General of the United Nations, noted António Guterres, noted. He commended the adoption of the agreement as a demonstration of the strength of multilateralism,” adding: “By acting to counter threats to our planet that go beyond national boundaries, you are demonstrating that global threats deserve global action and that countries can come together, in unity for the common good.”
The Secretary-General urged all states to spare no effort in ensuring that the agreement becomes operation, appealing to them to act without delay to sign and ratify it quickly.
“This is critical to addressing the threats facing the ocean, and to the success of ocean-related goals and targets — including the 2030 Agenda and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” he added.
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