India is to sign the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, also called the High Seas Treaty, at the next General Assembly of the United Nations, which will be held next month, said PK Srivastava, Advisor to the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
He was speaking at a high-level two-day workshop, which began in Chennai on Tuesday and focused on implementing the Agreement.
Often referred to as the ‘High Seas’, areas beyond national jurisdiction are the global common oceans open to all for internationally lawful purposes such as navigation, overflight, and the laying of submarine cables and pipelines.
Srivastava said the Ministry will establish a dedicated institutional mechanism to oversee the development of the Agreement. This authority will handle the necessary regulations, studies, and other activities related to the treaty, Srivastava said.
There is a need for detailed discussions and modifications to existing legislation to ensure compatibility with the requirements for the effective implementation of the treaty. The Environment Protection Act 1986 could be used for the environmental impact assessment of the BBNJ Agreement, he said.
Ratification of this treaty is a crucial step in protecting the high seas, which offers scores of services, including climate regulation and enhancing the blue economy. They emphasised the urgency of enhancing marine governance and the need for capacity building and technology transfer to achieve these goals, says a release.
The workshop, The workshop organised by the Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) in collaboration with the High Seas Alliance (HSA) and RISE UP, was attended by diplomats, policymakers and senior marine scientists from South and Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste.
A set of recommendations will be developed during the workshop for the effective implementation of the BBNJ Agreement in the region, contributing to the global effort to safeguard marine biodiversity and address the challenges posed by climate change, the release said.
