South Africa has signed an agreement aimed at protecting marine biodiversity in areas of the ocean that are not under the jurisdiction of any single nation.

“As part of our long standing commitment to strengthening the rule of law in ocean affairs, South Africa played an active role in negotiating the new international Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction,” the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George said on Monday.

The BBNJ Agreement provides the first comprehensive global framework to protect biodiversity in the high seas and on the sea floor beyond national jurisdiction.

Often referred to as the “High Seas Treaty”, it addresses critical gaps in the governance of the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdictions. 

It introduces tools such as area-based management, environmental impact assessments, capacity building, and a mechanism for sharing marine genetic resources.

The Minister called for strengthened global cooperation, enhanced scientific collaboration, and scaled-up financial and technical support to developing economy countries to enable the full and inclusive operationalisation of the legally binding BBNJ Agreement. 

He further encouraged all Member States and regional organisations to sign and ratify the Agreement without delay to ensure its timely entry into force and effective implementation, in the shared interest of safeguarding marine biodiversity for present and future generations.

The Minister made these remarks after the high-level signing ceremony, which took place during the third United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC3) hosted in Nice, France.

Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, UNOC3 seeks to accelerate global action to conserve and sustainably use the ocean, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 14: ‘Life Below Water’. 

In line with South Africa’s existing legal frameworks, the signing of the BBNJ is expected to bolster global ocean governance and help advance local efforts to build the economy, without compromising the ocean. -