Preparatory Commission for Historic Marine Biodiversity Treaty’s Entry into Force Opens First Session

Preparatory Commission for Historic Marine Biodiversity Treaty's Entry into Force Opens First Session

As the commission tasked with preparing for the entry into force of a new treaty on maritime biodiversity opened its first session today, speakers both underlined the importance of moving this process forward and emphasized that the proper care must be taken in designing the modalities by which to do so.

"The need for decisive action has never been more urgent," stressed Elinor Hammarskjöld, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, as she spotlighted unprecedented pressure on the health, productivity and resilience of the world's oceans. She recalled the adoption of the text - formally known as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction - after extensive negotiations. Underlining this "historic achievement", she urged Member States to "rig the ship and prepare it to sail" in the same spirit of compromise and flexibility that guided its adoption.

Financial support is already available, she noted, with the Global Environment Facility having allocated up to $34 million for ratification support and early action activities. To date, 30 States have received national-level support, with possible funding available for additional States. She further highlighted the importance of the voluntary trust fund established to assist developing countries in attending the meetings of the Preparatory Commission, and reiterated the General Assembly's invitation to Member States and relevant stakeholders to make financial contributions.

The Agreement was adopted on 19 June 2023 and, in a resolution adopted on 4 March 2025, the General Assembly invited all States and regional economic integration organizations that have not yet done so to consider signing and ratifying the Agreement as soon as possible - ideally before the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference to be held in Nice, France, from 9 to 13 June.

To that end, the first session to prepare for the Agreement's entry into force - formally known as the "Preparatory Commission for the Entry into Force of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction and the Convening of the First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Agreement" - will be held from 14 to 25 April 2025. It will focus on practical issues, addressed in a series of informal working groups involving Member States and stakeholders.

As he opened that session, Commission Co-Chair Adam McCarthy (Australia) stressed that "time is of the essence". The Agreement currently has 112 signatories - 21 of whom have also ratified the accord - and it will enter into force 120 days after the date of deposit of the sixtieth instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession thereto. Pursuant to the Agreement, the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties shall be convened by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres no later than one year after the Agreement's entry into force.

Hailing the Agreement as a "shining achievement of multilateral cooperation" - at a time when that principle is under question - Mr. McCarthy stressed that "the world expects us to take the potential of this treaty and turn it into reality". For her part, Co-Chair Janine Coye-Felson (Belize) urged Member States and stakeholders to "build on momentum to make the Agreement a reality".

Following their remarks, the Commission adopted its agenda, its programme of work and the format for its deliberations - three informal working groups arranged by clusters of issues. These are: governance issues; issues pertaining to the operation of an open-access platform for the sharing of Agreement-related knowledge (the "Clearing-House Mechanism"); and issues related to finance.

Opening the first informal working group, Mr. McCarthy invited delegations to consider several "guiding questions" on the issue to be discussed today - the rules of procedure for the Conference of the Parties to the Agreement. These prompts concerned whether the structure of the rules is fit for purpose and what missing elements might usefully be included - or, alternatively, omitted. Further, he asked delegations to specify the substantive elements with which they agreed or disagreed, and which were most important and why.

As Member States took the floor throughout the day to share their views, Cuba's delegate hailed the Agreement as "a triumph for developing countries" to protect biodiversity and the expanse of oceans that, for centuries, have been a victim of unbridled exploitation and inequality. Calling for a binding mechanism for technology transfer, he emphasized that the principle of the common heritage of humanity is "an ethical shield against the covert privatization of the common good".

The representative of Iraq, speaking for the Group of 77 developing countries and China, underscored the need to ensure inclusivity throughout the process by facilitating the participation of developing countries. He also stressed that their needs and priorities - along with the special circumstances of small island developing States and least developed countries - should be considered. Echoing that, Singapore's delegate, speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States, requested explicit guarantees for small island developing States' representation in the governance structure of the Conference of the Parties, as this is an issue that directly affects them.

In that vein, the representative of the Federated States of Micronesia, speaking for the Pacific small island developing States, called for a dedicated seat for small island developing States in that Conference, as is present in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. And, while the Conference's meetings will generally be in-person, a virtual format should be explored for statements, as not all small delegations can attend physically.

Sierra Leone's delegate, speaking for the African Group, added that the meaningful participation of developing countries must include African parties in all negotiations to ensure inclusivity and fairness. On the question of venue, while she underscored the need for accessibility and participation, she also pointed to the value of exploring rotational hosting arrangements, which can provide political momentum.

Member States further traded views on a wide variety of topics, including the contents of the rules of procedure, working methods and modes of participation. Argentina's delegate - speaking for the Core Latin American Group - noted that, while the structure of the draft rules is "generally acceptable", it is important to identify the elements that are missing, unnecessary or improvable. "The rules of procedure should provide clarity and legal certainty to avoid creating a legal vacuum," he emphasized. As well, he stated that all meetings, both regular and extraordinary, should be in-person due to the important decisions being taken as a sovereign body.

New Zealand's representative called for language on consensus to be included in all provisions of the rules of procedure and underscored that the participation of UN observers in meetings is essential in the interest of transparency. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom's representative emphasized the need for robust institutional arrangements, urged that subsidiary bodies be allowed limited - rather than open-ended - membership and signalled her delegation's openness to meetings held either annually or biannually. While participation in the Conference of the Parties meeting should be in-person, she noted that virtual meetings could be held in extraordinary circumstances.

Jamaica's delegate, speaking for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), called for the facilitation of interactions between subsidiary bodies; for voting to be allowed by proxy; for the nexus between voting rights and the accumulation of arrears by parties to be addressed; and for parties to be allowed to speak before observers during meetings. The representative of Saudi Arabia called for greater clarity in language concerning the right of a regional economic integration organization that is party to the Agreement to vote on questions under its jurisdiction, noting that only those present in the chamber retain the right to vote in UN bodies.

Türkiye's representative expressed concern over a rule restricting meetings to only two standard venues, as well as the 90-day support period for convening extraordinary meetings - which may be too short for parties with limited resources or complex consultation processes. Several States called for biennial - rather than annual - meetings, with Thailand's representative noting that this would reduce the burden on developing States and allow time for national implementation between sessions. He also voiced support for hybrid modalities to enable greater participation and access for small delegations.

Egypt's delegate voiced support for adding a provision to the rules of procedure that would ensure equal geographic representation in the chairing of Committees. Meanwhile, the representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, suggested exploring some instances of online Conferences in extraordinary situations, further questioning how decisions regarding the granting of observer status would be made.

However, pushing back on that speaker, the Russian Federation's delegate observed that the Agreement contains extremely detailed norms on environmental protection that follow European Union standards. This, she said, would allow for direct interference in certain circumstances and further distorts the visions of the Law of the Sea Convention. The Agreement, she stressed, does not contain checks and balances on establishing protected marine areas, which would require huge resources and hundreds of hours of investigation and immense financing. The Conference is "a political body that has nothing to do with science", she added.

Adding a further cautionary note, China's representative emphasized that the Agreement only applies to areas beyond national jurisdiction - the high seas and the seabed - and therefore does not apply to areas of territorial dispute between States. Making this clear would ensure that the Conference can focus on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the high seas and the seabed and not be influenced by such disputes, he said.