Convenor

Convenors

High Seas Alliance

Venue

TBC

Overview

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement is the first comprehensive treaty on the high seas. It covers marine genetic resources, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits; measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas; environmental impact assessments; capacity building and the transfer of marine technology.  It also establishes a framework of institutional arrangements, including a Conference of Parties, Scientific and Technical Body, Clearing House Mechanism, Financial Resources and Mechanism, Implementation and Compliance Committee.  

In the East Asian Seas region, there are eight (8) countries who already signed the Agreement (China, Indonesia, LAO PDR, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam), while the first ratification in Asia still awaits. Under the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East, the thrusts of the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-SEA) align with the principles of the Agreement in promoting ocean governance to ensure the sustainable development of the coastal and marine resources in the region. As nations set their national targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Agreement is essential to ensuring the achievement of the 30×30 ocean targets.

This two-part side event aims to engage different levels of stakeholders in a dialogue about the Agreement focusing on the perspective of Asian countries. 

Part one (1) is a high-level side event to engage ministers, senior government officials, and the heads of delegation in a 1-hour high-level dialogue that aims to sustain the momentum of support from the national government leaders to sign and ratify the High Seas Treaty. The dialogue aims to revisit the commitments of the countries and explore opportunities to assist the countries in the ratification and preparation for the implementation. 

Part two (2) is a knowledge-sharing session that targets key sectors, institutions, and leaders engaged in marine conservation in the East Asian Seas region to gather more public support on the ratification of the BBNJ Agreement by 2025. 

Expected Output/s:

• Raise awareness and understanding on the salient points and key principles of the BBNJ Agreement and its link to achieving the new ocean targets under the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework; and
• Increase appreciation of the need to swiftly ratify the Treaty, which can lead to growing participation of key sectors/organization supporting governments of Asian countries in the #RaceForRatification and preparation for the implementation.

Program

Part 1 High Level Session

Time	AGENDA
10:00-10:05	Opening and Preliminaries (HSA)
10:05-10:15	Keynote Speech UN Special Envoy for the Ocean Peter Thomson (TBC) / Amb. Rena Lee (TBC)
10:15-10:25	Key Principles of BBNJ (HSA or HSA member/UNDOALOS)
10:25-10:50	Commitment-setting/statement from each country (voluntary) Signing of Octavia the Treaty Champions Declaration
10:50-10:55	Closing statement (PEMSEA)
10:55-11:00	Photo Op/End of dialogue