After decades of negotiations and a 36 hour-long meeting at the United Nations in New York, countries from around the world agreed to a new Ocean treaty in 2023. The landmark treaty governs Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction – what we call, BBNJ.  A big task: It does not only protect marine life in the High Seas, but also ensures that benefits are shared fairly and equitably amongst all. The high seas, beyond national borders, cover two-thirds of the surface and nearly 95 percent of the volume of the entire ocean. But the treaty has not yet been ratified into domestic law by the 60+ countries needed to make it legally binding. This episode explores what happens next and how decisions now have real implications for ocean equity.

• What is still left to negotiate after the treaty has been adopted?

• How can all voices be heard for decisions about international areas?

• And what needs to happen now for this Agreement to come into life?

Join us and special guests Janine Felson and Adam McCarthy, the co-chairs of the Preparatory Commission for the entry into force of the BBNJ agreement.

The episode is published ahead of the First Preparatory Commission meeting April 14-25, 2025, in New York.

Guests: Janine Felson & Adam McCarthy

Hosts: Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki & Jennifer Macey

Sound design and editing: ⁠Emily Perkins⁠

Communication: Sunnefa Yeatman

For comments & feedback please contact: [email protected]

Find out more:

ANCORS Ocean Equity page https://oceanequityresearch.org/

ANCORS at the University of Wollongong https://www.uow.edu.au/ancors/

You can find official documents in preparation for the First Preparatory Commission Meeting on the United Nations Website: https://www.un.org/bbnjagreement/en/meetings/preparatory-commission/documents/first-session

Research on the BBNJ process by ANCORS researchers:

Dalaker, K. (2024). ‘A Commentary on the BBNJ Agreement Using the History of the Making of UNCLOS and Its Implementation Agreements’. Ocean Yearbook Online, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 125-60.

Kraabel, K. (2022). Institutional arrangements in a BBNJ treaty: Implications for Arctic marine science. Marine Policy, 142, 103807-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103807

Lothian, S. (2023a). The BBNJ preamble: More than just window dressing. Marine Policy, 153, 105642-. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105642⁠

Lothian, S. (2023b). The BBNJ Agreement: Through the Prism of Deep-Sea Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. Ocean Development and International Law, 54(4), 469–499. https://doi.org/10.1080/00908320.2023.2296400

Lothian, S. (2022). Marine conservation and international law: legal instruments for biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Tessnow-von Wysocki, I., & Vadrot, A. B. M. (2024). Pathways of scientific input into intergovernmental negotiations: a new agreement on marine biodiversity. International Environmental Agreements : Politics, Law and Economics, 24(2–3), 325–348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-024-09642-0

Tessnow-von Wysocki, I. (2023). Science-policy interfaces for ocean protection: The case of the international negotiations for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). Doctoral Thesis. https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/detail/o:1978693

Tessnow-von Wysocki, I., & Vadrot, A. B. M. (2022). Governing a Divided Ocean: The Transformative Power of Ecological Connectivity in the BBNJ Negotiations. Politics and Governance, 10(3), 14–28. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v10i3.5428

Tessnow-von Wysocki, I., & Vadrot, A. B. M. (2020). The Voice of Science on Marine Biodiversity Negotiations: A Systematic Literature Review. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.614282