International Environmental Governance and the Final Frontier: The Protection of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in Deep-Sea Areas beyond National Jurisdiction

Abstract

The ecological health of the global oceans, and their continued ability to withstand a pervasive and ever-increasing array of anthropogenic pressures, represents an enduring cause for scientific and regulatory concern. In recent years, concerted international attention has been focused towards promoting the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity located in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). Most tangibly, in 2015, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution1 confirming an intention to develop an internationally legally binding instrument (ILBI) under the framework of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)2 to advance the regulation of ABNJ.3 This was preceded by an extensive series of meetings convened between 2006 and 2015 by the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Informal Group to study issues related to the conservation and sustainable management of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (BBNJ), which was established under an earlier UNGA resolution4 and which identified four key themes to be addressed through the ILBI. Respectively, these themes encompass marine genetic resources; area-based management tools; environmental impact assessments; and capacity building and the transfer of marine technology,5 which were all considered to have been under-regulated within UNCLOS. Pursuant to Resolution 69/292, a Preparatory Committee held four meetings between 2016 and 2017 to identify points of convergence and divergence between the participants6 and to facilitate the elaboration of the ILBI when negotiations commence in earnest in 2018.7 Assuming satisfactory progress, the ILBI is intended to be concluded in 2020 as the third formal implementing agreement to UNCLOS.8