Twenty years later, half of the Earth’s surface is to be bound by an environment treaty

The United Nations is negotiating an international legally binding “instrument” to bring marine areas beyond national jurisdiction under common global management and monitoring.

The fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC-4) is underway March 7-18 in New York. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (IGC-4) is the venue for the fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference. This particular meeting will be used to finalize a draft of the instrument for the conservation and sustainable usage of marine biological diversity in areas that are not under national jurisdiction. It is also known as BBNJ.

This meeting was originally scheduled for 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

BBNJ includes the high seas, extending beyond national waters or economic zones. According to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), these areas account for “almost half of the Earth’s surface.” These areas are hardly regulated and also least understood or explored for its biodiversity — only 1 per cent of these areas are under protection.

Getting hundreds of countries together to agree for a global regime — thus making it the planet’s one of the biggest common property resources — to enforce a conservation and equitable use treaty is a contentious affair.

The high seas are rich in biodiversity and have been exploited without knowing their impacts. Although there have been scientific explorations of the ocean surface, the deep sea (below 200m) has not been explored.

Deep seafloors are the most vulnerable habitat. The extinction process is already underway. Elin A Thomas, a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University, UK, researching the state of species in the hydrothermal vents, says this ecosystem is yet to be studied and species fully identified.

“Our research found that of the 184 species (of Molluscs) assessed, 62 per cent are listed as threatened: 39 are critically endangered, 32 are endangered and 43 are vulnerable.”

Thomas claims that 100 per cent of Indian Ocean vent molluscs are currently listed as critically endangered. This highlights the need to save them from extinction. The International Seabed Authority, an intergovernmental organization based in Jamaica, allows deep sea mining contracts.

Since the beginning of 2000, negotiations have been ongoing to reach a new agreement on BBJN. The draft is expected to be finalised at the current meeting. The five main aspects of the negotiated agreement are discussed together: environmental impacts assessments for high seas activities, conservation marine genetic resources, capacity building and technology transfer, and cross-cutting issues like institutional structure and financial support.

The IGC-4 began discussions and negotiations on March 16 to conduct environmental impact assessments of high seas activities that are not under national control.

The discussion revolves around four elements related to EIAs: “Thresholds and criteria of the ecosystems; the need for separate EIA considerations for marine areas identified as ecologically or biologically significant or vulnerable; public notification and consultation; and decision making.”

During the discussion of March 17, the debate revolved around who should be responsible for making final decisions about activities that would have an effect on the high seas eco-systems. Also, what type of activity is eligible for an EIA.

In fact delegates debated whether “a couple of harmless rowers on the high seas cause minor or transitory effects significant enough to trigger an EIA?” This decision is linked to assessing or deciding the “threshold” for starting an EIA process.

Many delegates believed that each country should take responsibility for this decision. However, those who favored the Conference of Parties are empowered to make such decisions as well as request EIAs. Others suggested that an independent scientific body be established to review EIAs.

These would be clarified on March 17th.