India is set to sign the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty, at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly next month. The announcement was made by P.K. Srivastava, Advisor to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, during a high-level, two-day workshop that began on Tuesday, focusing on the implementation of the agreement.
The BBNJ agreement is an international treaty governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Its purpose is to tackle growing concerns on the long-term preservation of marine biodiversity in the high seas, which are areas that lie beyond national jurisdiction, covering nearly two thirds of the global ocean.
The Union Cabinet approved the signing of the agreement in July 2024. Mr. Srivastava said the government was considering establishing a national authority to monitor developments related to the BBNJ agreement. “This authority will manage the necessary regulations, studies, and other activities concerning the treaty,” he said.
He emphasised the need for in-depth discussions and modifications to existing legislation to ensure alignment with the treaty’s requirements and suggested that the Environment Protection Act of 1986 could be utilised for the environmental impact assessment part mentioned in the BBNJ agreement.
Mr. Srivastava outlined the challenges facing India, including competing priorities, resource sharing, research and development, and capacity building, all of which needed to be tackled through regional cooperation.
Diplomats, policymakers and experts from a dozen South and Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste attended the workshop organised by Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) in collaboration with the High Seas Alliance (HSA) and RISE UP.
According to experts, ratifying this treaty is essential for protecting the high seas, which provides numerous benefits, including climate regulation and bolstering the blue economy. They stressed the urgent need to improve marine governance and highlighted the importance of capacity building and technology transfer to achieve these objectives.
To date, 91 countries have signed the BBNJ agreement, but only eight have ratified it. For the agreement to take effect, 60 ratifications are required. Among those who spoke at the workshop inauguration were: P. Krishnan, Director of BOBP-IGO; Rebecca Hubbard, Director of the High Seas Alliance; Ewout de Wit, Consul General of the Netherlands; David Eggleston, Deputy Consul General of the Australian Consulate General in Chennai; and Grinson George, Director of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.