Excited to be in Nice from Thursday for the One Ocean Science Congress. I spoke about the financial aspects of implementing the BBNJ Agreement at an OOSC Interactive Townhall organised by UN Environment Programme.

📍Room 8, Port Lympia | One Ocean Science Congress, Nice

⏰ Thursday, 5th June 2025, 12:45 13:45 CEST

🔗https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/OOS2025/meetingprogramme/5537#

The One Ocean Science Congress is a UN Ocean Conference special event dedicated to science. The BBNJ Agreement is grounded in science, with the use of the best available scientific information and the use of relevant traditional knowledge being among its general principles and approaches. Essential to the successful implementation of the Agreement is to have a multidisciplinary, inclusive and accessible science-base that leaves no one behind and is foundational to the value proposition for countries.

Questions to be discussed during the session included:

💡What data can be leveraged across related multilateral environmental agreements (e.g. CBD, CMS, CITES, Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans) and regional fisheries management organizations in support of the BBNJ Agreement?

💡How can we better understand socio-economic dimensions in ABNJ to inform decision-making for the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ?

💡How can science and data, including from the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, inform the sustainable management of activities in ABNJ, incl. fisheries, shipping and mining, and assist assessing cumulative impacts on marine biodiversity?

I was joined by an excellent lineup of speakers, including Dmitry Gonchar, Manuel Barange, Adnan Awad, Miguel Bernal, Michelle Devlin, Minna Epps and Joanna Post as well as moderators Hartwig Kremer and Chris McOwen.