The Marine Biodiversity Agreement for the High Seas (BBNJ) was adopted in June 2023, after more than a decade of negotiations. Chile signed this agreement in September of the same year, and ratified the treaty in January 2024, showing its commitment to caring for the ocean. In this way, our country was the first in the world to formalize its commitment to its conservation and the second to deposit the text of the agreement at the UN.
This is an international legally binding instrument that seeks to protect marine biodiversity in areas located outside national jurisdictions, that is, beyond 200 nautical miles. Its main objective is to contribute to preserving and protecting the ocean. As an instrument of governance, it will be key to achieving the global objectives that seek to protect 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030, in order to preserve and recover marine nature, adequately facing the global climate crisis; reduction of greenhouse gases, pollution and loss of biodiversity. International waters make up almost two-thirds of the world’s ocean, and have long been a lawless space, where exploitation and environmental damage have increased over time due to lack of regulation. The BBNJ establishes mechanisms for the creation of marine protected areas, the evaluation of the environmental impact of human activities and the access and distribution of benefits from marine genetic resources located in the water column and on the seabed. The BBNJ agreement seeks level the field, balancing conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, a situation that currently does not exist; More than 93% of the global ocean remains without conservation and protection measures and is therefore open to all types of harmful activities.
For Chile, a country with more than 6,400 kilometers of coastline and an economy strongly linked to the sea, the implementation of the BBNJ agreement represents both a challenge and an opportunity. In a context where climate change, overfishing and pollution seriously threaten marine ecosystems, Chile must assume a proactive role in the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean, especially because it is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Our country has already demonstrated its leadership in the protection of its jurisdictional waters, by having more than 45% of its territory with some level of protection. However, the implementation of the BBNJ agreement requires extending this commitment beyond our maritime borders, which is why the Government of President Gabriel Boric has nominated Valparaíso to be the headquarters of his Secretariat.
But obtaining the Secretariat is not the only challenge. Now that the agreement has been ratified, it is necessary to define and promote its future implementation through the development of internal standards, which must be in line with international provisions. This includes the strengthening of monitoring and control capabilities, as well as the development of scientific research and technological and innovative tools that allow evaluating and mitigating the impacts of human activities on the high seas. Progress must be made in standards for environmental impact assessment in jurisdictional waters; today these standards do not exist. And Chile, through its network of universities, can become a research and science HUB based on marine genetic resources. Likewise, progress must be made towards the ratification of the Nagoya protocol on land-based natural resources, which is part of the Convention on Biological Biodiversity of which Chile is also a party.
Likewise, regional collaboration will be essential. Chile must work closely with other countries in the region to coordinate efforts in the creation of corridors and marine protected areas and in the implementation of sustainable resource management policies. Establishing an active and collaborative foreign policy with neighboring countries and the Pacific Ocean basin will benefit not only biodiversity, but also offers opportunities to promote sustainable economic activities that improve the quality of life of coastal communities and, at the same time, guarantee the care of nature, such as ecotourism and sustainable fishing.
The role of civil society, coastal communities and the private sector is also crucial. Public awareness and education about the importance of the ocean and the threats it faces are critical to generating broad support for conservation policies. Therefore, initiatives such as environmental education programs and research and conservation projects led by NGOs and universities must have support from the state. However, it is time for its study to be part of the mandatory curriculum in schools and from an early age.
On this World Oceans Day, let us remember that the health of our oceans is the health of the planet and, therefore, ours. The BBNJ agreement gives us a powerful tool to protect life in the vast and vital high seas ecosystems, and its effective implementation in Chile and around the world is a collective responsibility of all who live in this beautiful country.
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