Context: 

Recently the Blue Leaders High-Level Event on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction was held in Belgium.

Key Highlights On  BBNJ Treaty Or High Seas Treaty

• Objective: The event was held  to urge nations to ratify a new treaty to protect the high seas from pollution, climate change and overfishing. 
• The Blue Leaders High-Level Event on BBNJ: It decided to use the United Nations Ocean Conference to be held in 2025 as a platform to bring the BBNJ Treaty into force.
• Participating countries: Belgium, Cape Verde, Greece, Monaco, Nigeria, Norway and the United Kingdom participated in the event. 
• India’s position: India is yet to sign the BBNJ treaty. However, it called on efforts for entry into force and implementation of the treaty at the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration held in September 2023.

BBNJ Treaty: Biological  Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

• It is an 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 also known as the “Treaty of the High Seas”.
• Adoption:The agreement was adopted by consensus at the 5th BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference in New York on 19 June 2023 
• Secretariat BBJN: Brussels.
• Signatories: At present 88 countries are signatories to the treaty with two countries ie.  Chile and Palau have ratified it. 
  • The BBNJ treaty will “enter into force” when at least 60 countries ratify it.
• The agreement will be closed for signature  on September 20, 2025. This means countries have given their consent to be bound to it and after the  deadline,countries can no longer sign but  still can  accede to the treaty, which has the same legal status as ratification.
• Provisions of the treaty: 
• • Establish Marine Protected areas in High seas: To achieve the target of effective conservation of 30% of land and sea by 2030, agreed within the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
  • Benefits sharing of  marine genetic resources:The treaty ensures that profits from marine genetic resources (MGR) ie. materials of plant, animal or microbes are shared equitably and fairly.
  • Rules  for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA): It is to identify and evaluate the potential impacts of certain activity could have on the ocean For example, Carbon sequestration or deep-sea mining will now have to do EIAs.
  • Foresees capacity building and the transfer of marine technology between the Parties

News source: DTE