Global Treaty to Protect Ocean Biodiversity: Why cross-sector collaboration is key

Vast swathes of our ocean exist beyond the boundaries of any one country — and that area is home to huge amounts of biodiversity and even never-before-encountered species. It must be protected and used sustainably.

In fact, two-thirds of the ocean lies in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), that is, beyond the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of individual states. ABNJ make up 90% of the globe’s occupied habitat and support rich and abundant biodiversity known as biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions (BBNJ), including millions of unidentified species.

ABNJ also play host to activities of global interest and import — they are fished and explored, and transited not only by the vast majority of global trade but also by the submarine cables that underpin international financial markets and global communications.

In March 2023, the United Nations adopted the Agreement on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), with the goal “to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, for the present and in the long term”. The Agreement has been widely heralded by governments, civil society and the research community, but there has been little public reaction from the private sector.

It’s true that the most immediate actions, signing and ratifying the Agreement, rely on national governments and regional economic integration organizations (as of September 3, 2024, 91 nations and the EU had signed the Agreement; 8 signatories had also ratified). Yet, at the very least, global private sector actors rely on shipping and data networks for the efficient transfer of raw materials and information. Furthermore, some large corporate stakeholders rely more directly on ABNJ. These stakeholders operate the ships or cables that make up transport and data networks, fish ABNJ waters or otherwise directly benefit from BBNJ, or plan to do so as novel ABNJ uses, such as bioprospecting for marine genetic resources, continue to develop. Upon its entry into force, the Agreement is poised to potentially shake up operations for these industries in particular.

The particulars of the Agreement are complex. It addresses four primary topics: marine genetic resources; area-based management tools (such as marine protected areas); environmental impact assessments; and capacity building and marine technology transfer. It also addresses a number of cross-cutting issues, including establishing governance and funding structures in support of implementation. However, the Agreement also leaves many questions unanswered, as many of the details of implementation will be decided only after entry into force, by the yet-to-be-established Conference of Parties with its subsidiary governance bodies.

Despite the fact that holistic, integrated and coordinated governance of ABNJ is currently lacking, the relevant institutional and decision-making arena is already somewhat crowded. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the foundational document framing governance of the ocean, including areas beyond national jurisdiction; UNCLOS is supplemented by implementing agreements on seabed resources and transboundary fish stocks. The BBNJ Agreement is the third implementing agreement to UNCLOS. Other instruments address specific geographies or specific issues. The result is a complex network of governance that splits responsibility for overseeing the use of ABNJ between multiple actors and levels, many of which operate under their own distinct mandates. Furthermore, Agreement language specifies that new governance not undermine existing efforts or bodies, further exacerbating uncertainty about regulatory and other end results.

Perhaps private sectors’ actors public silence is understandable, given the chain of uncertainties around signing and ratification, entry into force and the details of implementation between the present and future of the BBNJ Agreement. But silence does not serve the best interests of either the Agreement or of industry themselves. Industry engagement in ongoing work and future decision-making can support effective governance and reduce future uncertainty. Industry support for universal Agreement ratification can ensure that BBNJ continues to support private sector operations and a livable planet for future generations.

Efforts are already underway to lay the groundwork for swift implementation once the Agreement enters into force. Industry input into those efforts can bring much-needed expertise on existing operations, access to data and direct familiarity with ABNJ more broadly. Expert knowledge will be foundational to identifying and designing effective regulatory and other governance mechanisms to protect and sustainably use BBNJ. And as private sector actors are already operating in ABNJ, existing vessels and other platforms can be instrumented to collect additional data; innovators can contribute through new data-collection methodologies to fill knowledge gaps.

Furthermore, given the challenges monitoring and enforcement face in ABNJ (including remoteness and extent, national capacity limitations and the fear of free riders), voluntary compliance by BBNJ users will be key to Agreement success. Industry engagement can bolster efforts to design regulations that are both effective and efficient, making voluntary compliance less burdensome and more straightforward.

The Agreement is an opportunity to holistically align governance and structure sustainable use of a vast ocean area that contains a wealth of resources and supports functioning planetary systems. BBNJ users rely on the areas and resources that the Agreement addresses as well as the ecosphere. Private sector actors’ public support for universal ratification will give the Agreement the best chance of success. Neither industry nor society’s interest in securing a healthy, sustainable ocean ends at the limits of national jurisdiction.

Successful implementation of the BBNJ agreement will require cross-sectoral action and expertise. Indeed, Agreement experts frame the Agreement as requiring public-private partnerships almost by definition.

All relevant actors, and particularly private sector actors who directly rely on BBNJ, should begin to scope and build those partnerships now. This World Economic Forum White Paper offers suggestions on how to get started.