By Komal Shabbir
Oceans serve as humanity’s long standing global commons, a shared heritage having no borders and open for all. It governs Earth’s climate, creates almost half of the oxygen we breathe, captures approximately a quarter of global CO2 emissions. Also, oceans serve human being with food, access to global trade and dependency of livelihoods for billions of people around the world. The ocean boasts a vast biodiversity and a value in scientific exploration and commercial products that is staggering. The use of marine organisms in development of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology products, cosmetics and industrial products are growing. Healthy ocean ecosystems are the foundation of fisheries, climate regulators and increase the resilience to environmental changes.
However, our oceans are facing growing challenges never experienced before. Increasing pressures of overfishing, marine pollution, climate change, environmental and industrial waste dumping and like deep-sea mining have created disruptions in marine ecosystem so devastating that it would take decades to offset those effects. If our marine resources are not shareable through effective international rules, then they can end up in hands of few technologically advanced nations, thus exacerbating differences between developed and developing countries.
All these highlighted challenges have affected the ocean ecosystem and bio-diversity to such extent that passive measures alone would not suffice the remedial. Active and prompt actions are necessity of time to address the issues. Formulation of a combined and robust international regulation to cater for harmful impacts of human activities on oceans is becoming increasingly urgent. Governance of high seas has developed over past centuries through intermittent institutional frameworks for shipping, fisheries and seabed mining. In order to address those issues, a concentrated effort was initiated in 2023 in form of Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement. This agreement chartered by UN for “Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction” (BBNJ Agreement) was adopted on 19 June 2023 under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which is considered a historic success. The BBNJ negotiations were 20 year journey from an idea to an international agreement. The process began in 2004, when the UN General Assembly established an Ad Hoc Working Group to examine issues relating to biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. In 2005, the General Assembly expanded its mandate, setting in motion nearly a decade of deliberations. Between 2006 and 2015, the working Group held nine sessions. A preparatory committee was then established in 2015, followed by four meetings during 2016–2017. Formal intergovernmental negotiations began in 2018, with the first Intergovernmental Conference (IGC-1), followed by IGC-2 and IGC-3 in 2019. After COVID-19 disruption, negotiations resumed with IGC-4 in 2022, culminating in IGC-5 in 2023. On 4 March 2023, after two decades of negotiations, UN Member States finally adopted BBNJ Agreement which is considered as a landmark in the history of global ocean governance.This agreement entered into force on 17 January 2026. UNCLOS set the legal regime for global oceans; however, it did not provide a full-fledged solution for the protection of biodiversity in areas beyond national boundaries. Whereas, BBNJ agreement fills a crucial gap in international law, whereby, it protects the Marine ecosystems been exposed to cumulative environmental pressures.
This agreement aims to fill this exact gap by establishing a more integrated, holistic conservation and sustainable ocean usage strategy. This agreement primarily based on four interconnected pillars: Fair sharing of benefits arising from Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs); Area-Based Management tools such as Marine Protected Areas; Environmental Impact Assessment of activities that may have a negative impact on marine biodiversity; Capacity building and transfer of Marine Technology to developing countries. These provisions could be a way forward from exploring ocean resources to sustainably cultivating these resources in well-coordinated way.
The significance of agreement goes beyond environmental protection. BBNJ Agreement aims to achieve not only biodiversity protection, but also equity by providing benefit for developing countries from scientific innovations, technology transfer and capacity development.
This is not an off-the-shelf problem for Pakistan. We being a coastal nation with over 1000 kilometres of coastline and an Exclusive Economic Zone of over 290,000 square kilometres have the potential of Blue Economy in fisheries, marine genetic resources, ports, maritime trade, tourism, marine and offshore renewable energy and emerging marine industries. These aspirations are all impossible to achieve without healthy and resilient marine ecosystems along the coast and in our EEZ uptill open oceans.
Pakistan’s maritime governance is currently multi-ministerial, multi-departmental, multi-agencies and multi-institutional. Often, responsibilities concerning marine conservation, fisheries, environmental protection, maritime security and scientific research are separated. The development of a national framework for ocean governance, including participation of Ministry of Maritime Affairs (MoMA), Ministry of Climate Changeand Environmental Coordination (MoCC & EC), research institutions, environmental agencies, provincial governments and maritime security organizations, would greatly enhance coordination and implementation of ocean policies.
Pakistan is expected to benefit from environmental governance as this treaty establishes internationally agreed criteria for EIAs, urging states to consider ecologic impacts of projects likely to reach areas of international concern. To achieve this, Pakistan’s environmental laws and policies should be aligned with these standards so as to enhance the governance framework, generate more cooperation from the international community and strengthen the country’s image as a responsible maritime nation.
There is a need to invest in marine genetic resources. Compared to many states in the region such as China, Korea, Indonesia and Singapore, ocean biotechnology and deep-sea exploration in Pakistan is still naïve. This agreement clearly acknowledges that developing countries need assistance with access to technology, scientific cooperation and financial resources in order to be able to play a meaningful role in the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity.
Legislative reforms, institutional coordination, technical expertise and sustained financial investment will form the backbone of any such institutionalization. Countries that invest today in marine science and ocean governance will be better positioned to benefit from the rapidly expanding Blue Economy while safeguarding their environmental security. Instead of considering these as abstract legal obligations, such provisions may be taken as opportunities for improving national research institutions, modernizing ocean observation systems and enhancing expertise in the field of new technologies like marine genetic resources and blue biotechnology.
In Pakistan, matter is not whether ratification of BBNJ agreement is important, but whether we are ready to take advantage of opportunities coming its way. While diplomatic leadership has played a role in negotiating the treaty, national level execution is needed to prepare Pakistan from harnessing its benefits.
