Africa signs up at UNOC III
Countries sign BBJN
Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea, Lesotho and South Africa were amongst the 18 countries that added their signature to the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement yesterday as the United Nations Oceans Conference currently underway in France helped focus attention on the looming deadline to sign the agreement.
Further strengthening support for the agreement, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau all undertook the further step to become parties to the Agreement yesterday joining another 14 countries that also confirmed their status.
The Agreement, which opened for signatures on 20 September, will continue to provide an opportunity for States to become a signatory until 20 September this year. States only become an actual party to the Agreement, however, when the signature is followed by ratification, approval or acceptance.
Signatories are nevertheless under an obligation to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of the Agreement, which is largely referred to as the High Seas Treaty.
Following the spate of signatures yesterday, there are currently 34 African signatories – only nine of which have taken the step to become parties to the Agreement. With a current total (as of yesterday) of 134 signatories, only 50 of these have taken the second step to become full parties to the Agreement.
Another 10 instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession are needed before the Agreement can start its 120-day count-down to coming into force.
Twelve African countries including Cabo Verde, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Morocco, Mauritania and Togo, were among the first supporters of the Agreement – all adding their signatures within days of the Agreement be adopted in September 2023.
Introductory Course to the 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
Course overview
Areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) are home to rich biodiversity and provide us with many goods and services, from the fish we eat to the regulation of the global climate cycle. Yet, they suffer from cumulative anthropogenic pressures, such as overfishing and destructive fishing practices, the effects of climate change and pollution from various sources. States began a process in 2004 and, following nearly two decades of negotiations, adopted the 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 (BBNJ Agreement). This course provides an overview of this process, a detailed synopsis of relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as an overview of the issues addressed by the BBNJ Agreement.
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