An evaluation of the new Agreement for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement)

This seminar will be moderated by Dr Nilufer Oral, Director of NUS Centre for International Law

Seminar Room 4-2 @ NUS Bukit Timah Campus
Block B, Level 4, 469 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259756
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INTRODUCTION In this presentation Professor Joanna Mossop will provide an overview of the new BBNJ Agreement, which was adopted by the General Assembly in June 2023. The Agreement is under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and was almost 20 years in the making. It is a significant development for the law of the sea for several reasons. First, it establishes legal principles for the sharing of benefits derived from marine genetic resources from areas beyond national jurisdiction (the High Seas and the deep seabed) as well as processes for the sharing of benefits, cooperation in marine scientific research and more. Second, it seeks to improve environmental management through the establishment of area-based management tools including marine protected areas and elaborating a process for environmental impact assessment in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Third, it established institutions such as a COP, Secretariat and Scientific and Technical Body, which is the first for an implementing Agreement under UNCLOS.

Professor Mossop will evaluate the role that the new BBNJ Agreement might play, especially when issues arise that are regulated by other instruments, frameworks, and bodies (IFBs). The instruction from the General Assembly that the new Agreement must ‘not undermine’ relevant IFBs was particularly challenging for negotiators as there was a variety of views about how the Agreement would intersect with other bodies including regional fisheries management organisations, the International Maritime Organization, the International Seabed Authority and regional seas agreements. Professor Mossop will identify limitations and opportunities for the new Agreement to contribute to a more coherent ocean governance regime.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER Professor Joanna Mossop (Victoria University of Wellington) is a legal scholar who focuses on the international law of the sea. Her publications cover a range of issues including maritime security, biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, dispute settlement, ocean governance and the continental shelf. Her 2016 book, The Continental Shelf beyond 200 Nautical Miles: Rights and Responsibilities (Oxford University Press) was a co-winner of the JF Northey Memorial Book Award. Professor Mossop is a member of a number of editorial boards including Marine Policy. She is the co-editor of the Brill monograph series, Publications on Ocean Development. She has been heavily involved in the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL) as a two-time Council member, two years as the New Zealand Vice President, and she was the co-chair of the Ocean and International Environmental Law Interest Group until July 2024.  She has provided advice and training in law of the sea matters to the New Zealand government and the UN Development Agency. In 2019 the New Zealand government nominated her to the list of Arbitrators and Conciliators under Annexes V and VII of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. She was an independent legal adviser on the New Zealand delegation to the Intergovernmental Conference that negotiated the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction. With Professor David Freestone she is currently co-editing a Commentary on the Agreement that will be published by Oxford University Press in early 2025.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR Dr Nilüfer Oral is Director of the Centre for International Law. She is a member of the International Law Commission where she is co-chair of the study group on sea level rise in relation to international law. She is a member of the Curatorium of The Hague Academy of International Law. She has advised the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Turkey on matters related to the law of the sea and climate change, and served as a climate change negotiator. She has also appeared before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

PROGRAMME

3.50pm Registration

4.00pm Welcome by Dr Nilufer Oral

4.05pm Presentation by Professor Joanna Mossop

5.00pm Q&A session, moderated by Dr Nilufer Oral

5.30pm End of Seminar

1.0 Public CPD Point
Practice Area: International Law
Training Category: General

Participants who wish to obtain CPD Points are reminded that they must comply strictly with the Attendance Policy set out in the CPD Guidelines. For this activity, this includes signing in on arrival and signing out at the conclusion of the activity in the manner required by the organiser, and not being absent from the entire activity for more than 15 minutes. Participants who do not comply with the Attendance Policy will not be able to obtain CPD Points for attending the activity. Please refer to http://www.sileCPDcentre.sg for more information.

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