It’s Day 3 of Economist Impact’s World Ocean Summit! I interviewed Peggy Kalas, director of the High Seas Alliance, on protecting biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).
Negotiations for a treaty on BBNJ—or high seas treaty—began in 2018 and there is hope that there will be a breakthrough this year as the fourth UN BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference is scheduled to take place in New York this month with a potential finalisation at the UN General Assembly later this year.
Good progress has been made recently. A high ambition coalition on BBNJ was launched at the One Ocean Summit last month, a high-level commitment by more than 40 Heads of State and all 27 members of the EU, to achieve a strong and robust high seas treaty this year.
So I’m delighted to speak with Peggy about why a treaty to protect areas beyond national jurisdiction is needed more than ever. We will examine the key political sticking points and how forthcoming negotiations can hopefully encourage political will at the highest level.
Watch the summary video of day 3, narrated by me:
You can still register to watch all session on demand 👉https://bit.ly/3GT1GVu