One global ocean

Dr Anjani Ganase reports on the status of an international agreement to protect biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ. Here’s what you need to know.

What does biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction mean?

Most countries are responsible for a stretch of ocean territory that extends up to a maximum of 200 nautical miles from their coasts. Trinidad and Tobago is responsible for an economic exclusion zone (EEZ) that mostly extends to the north and the east of our coasts, which is 15 times our combined land masses. The US, as another example, has the largest EEZ in the world and is larger than the 50 states combined. The marine areas that fall under the jurisdiction of countries make up about 42 per cent of the ocean. Within the lines of jurisdiction, all activities fall under the sovereign rights of the country. While many countries have signed treaties for conservation, much of what goes on is governed by local legislation. This designation was derived under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) established in 1982.

What is left is the open ocean making up the remainder 58 per cent; this area is owned by none but is shared by all and so too with the responsibility of conserving it. These activities are governed by the legislature under the UNCLOS.

What exists beyond borders?

The vast open ocean is home to populations of marine life that use the currents as highways for seasonal migrations. Marine mammals (dolphins, whales), sharks, manta rays, marine turtles, tuna, even sea birds move thousands of kilometres across the open oceans and seas. Whales raise their young in the warm tropics before moving to the poles to feed. Leatherback turtles that are born on the shores of TT roam as far as the Indian ocean or the north Atlantic before coming back to the east coast of Trinidad to breed and nest.

The deep sea defines the ocean below 200 metres where light is absent and makes up about 75 per cent of the ocean. Despite being such an expansive habitat, the deep ocean is less explored than the surface of the moon with little known of the extent of its biodiversity. Hotspots for deep sea biodiversity occur around hydrothermal vent fields and seamounts formed from volcanic eruptions and commonly found along the mid-ocean ridges. Meanwhile, extremely slow growing coral and sponge reefs provide unique habitat for deep ocean residents. Some scientific estimates speculate that there may be over a million deep sea species yet to be discovered.

The open ocean is also home to microscopic and abundant marine algae called phytoplankton that is the foundation of the ocean food web, fed upon by zooplankton then up and up the chain to fish and larger species. Phytoplankton is one of the largest consumers of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, equivalent to terrestrial forests. As the ocean is also a major regulator of the world’s climate and re-circulator of the world’s water, healthy marine life is inextricably intertwined with the physical and chemical health of the world’s ocean (all oceans are connected).

Unfortunately, the ocean has been considerably impacted by pollution, overexploitation and global warming and acidification because of climate change. Ninety per cent of all big fish are fished out and there is expected to be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. Dead zones are expanding offshore and so too are our major extraction industries. Such rapidly degrading conditions and limited regulations urgently require our international agreement on the sustainable management of the ocean.

The biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction agreement

The UNCLOS is the international agreement that has established the legal framework (rules and regulations) for all marine activities that exist beyond national jurisdictions. Activities include everything from transport, rights and conservation. But since the adoption of the UNCLOS in 1982, our use of the open ocean for transport, fishing, and even as a waste ground have escalated considerably, along with our knowledge of the importance of the ocean health to food security, economies, and climate. Furthermore, as national jurisdictions become more pressured for better conservation practices, industries are eyeing the deep ocean as a major source for mining and drilling even before we learn what exists below. Understanding such increase in shifts in our ocean use, in 2015 the UN General Assembly began the process for developing an international legal binding regulatory system for the conservation of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction within the UNCLOS. The development was expected to take place via an Intergovernmental Conference over four sessions between 2018 and 2020.

There are four major thematic areas:

1: Area-based management systems (including marine protected areas) for the management of priority biodiversity areas, similar to marine protected areas.

2: Marine genetic resources referring to all forms of genetic material with potential commercial value where benefits are to be responsibly shared among countries, but also regulating the exploitation, especially of sensitive habitats in the deep sea.

3: Environmental impact assessments to regulate all activities taking place in order to assess and mitigate impacts to the ocean habitat and dependent stakeholders.

4: Capacity building and transfer of advancing marine technology to be more affordable and accessible for research by developing nations in areas of interest.

The BBNJ status now

While discussions were paused during the covid19 pandemic, a fourth and fifth session of the Inter-governmental Conference have occurred in March and August of 2022. Despite being so close to arriving at an agreement with major progress, the session was suspended to allow nations to seek compromise to reach consensus. There was disappointment expressed by Pacific small island developing states that greatly depend on open ocean regulation for their ocean resources. Despite this, most country delegates agree that the end is close and urgently needed to conserve the ocean biodiversity for current and future generation. It is hoped that an agreement will be reached by the end of the year.

The agreement of the BBNJ is supported by other international campaigns such as the 30 by 30 pledge by nations as part of the Global Ocean Alliance led by the UK to protect 30 per cent of land and sea areas by 2030 to create a global network of protected areas.