Mapping Opportunities. The BBNJ Agreement as a Cooperation and Coordination Framework for the Conservation of Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

Date & Time: November 30, 2026 (Monday) 11:00-12:00

Venue: Room 723, 7/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong

Language: English

(In-person Event)  

Abstract:

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 (BBNJ Agreement), adopted in June 2023 after several decades of study, discussion and negotiation, is rapidly approaching the day when it will enter into force. Articulated around four substantive topics, many significant aspects, both procedural and substantive, will need to be articulated or further developed once its bodies become operational. This poses important questions related to the normative and operational relationship of the BBNJ Agreement with other existing global, regional, and sectoral regimes and regulatory bodies. During the initial phases of the negotiations, the discussion has focused primarily on how the BBNJ Agreement should not undermine other instruments, frameworks, and bodies, but, increasingly, the attention has shifted to cooperation and coordination. This article argues that cooperation and coordination may offer the most significant opportunities and key contributions of the BBNJ Agreement to global ocean governance. The paper offers in this respect a map of such opportunities by way of exploring the treaty texts in relation to both substantive and institutional aspects.

Speaker:

Professor Vito De Lucia is Full Professor of Law and Director of the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea (NCLOS) at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. His research operates at the intersection of international environmental law, law of the sea, critical legal theory, and legal philosophy. He is the author of The Ecosystem Approach in International Environmental Law: Genealogy and Biopolitics (Routledge, 2019) and is currently completing two new monographs. Having followed the BBNJ negotiations as an academic observer, he is widely recognized as a leading authority on the BBNJ Agreement. He is editor of a forthcoming volume in the Elgar Commentaries series on the Agreement, and founding series editor of Critical Ocean Legalities (Routledge). His research has been cited by the IPCC Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and he has published in Nature. He is a two-time recipient of the Richard Macrory Prize for best article in the Journal of Environmental Law (winner 2015; honorary mention 2018).

Moderator:

Professor Felix Chan, Associate Professor and Director of LLM (Spec. Maritime Law) programme, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong

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This event is organized by the Philip K. H. Wong Centre for Chinese Law (CCL), Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong. To watch recordings of past CCL events, please subscribe to our YouTube channel: The Centre for Chinese Law – YouTube. To keep up with our activities, follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/CCLHKU.

Philip K.H. Wong Centre for Chinese Law at The University of Hong Kong promotes legal scholarship with the aim to develop a deeper understanding of China and facilitate dialogue between East and West. For more information, visit: Philip K.H. Wong Centre for Chinese Law