On Thursday 24 April, the European Commission adopted a proposal to integrate into EU law the landmark international Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, which aims to protect the ocean, tackle environmental degradation, fight climate change, and curb biodiversity loss.
Signed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on behalf of the European Union in September 2023, this Agreement, also known as the ‘Treaty of the High Seas’, will help reach the goals and targets set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This includes protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 and increasing benefit sharing from genetic resources and digital sequence information.
While EU law is already largely aligned with significant parts of the BBNJ, the proposed directive will help Member States implement all parts of the Agreement. The directive focuses on the following provisions of the BBNJ Agreement, while keeping the regulatory burden to a minimum.
Marine protected areas. These will be established in international waters to conserve marine life. Before approving activities in international waters, Member States will need to assess their potential impact on the marine environment (through environmental impact assessments).
EU researchers, particularly those collaborating across borders on marine genetic resources, will be assisted by facilitating the sharing of genetic resources. This will ensure a fair distribution of benefits from marine genetic resources and digital sequence information, in line with the COP16 Cali Fund (see EUROPE 13590/4).
The proposed directive will promote good governance and ocean sustainability, in line with the future ‘European Oceans Pact’. The proposal will now be examined by the European Parliament and the EU Council.
The Agreement will enter into force 120 days after 60 countries have ratified and submitted their ratification documents. The EU is committed to ratifying the BBNJ Agreement before the UN Ocean Conference, to be held in Nice from 9 to 13 June. At the end of March, French President Emmanuel Macron presented eight objectives to be achieved at this conference (UNOC 3) (see EUROPE 13611/6).
Link to the proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/gid (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)