Ecologic Institute supports the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) in preparing the ratification of the so-called BBNJ Agreement and the related German implementing laws. The BBNJ Agreement of June 2023 is a UN treaty and the first multilateral legal framework for the protection of biodiversity on the high seas. Ecologic Institute identifies the obligations for Germany and which of them require new legislation, and drafts legal proposals for implementing provisions.  

The BBNJ Agreement was adopted in June 2023 under the auspices of the United Nations as the “Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction”. It applies to the high seas, which is the areas of the oceans that are not controlled by any country. This first time multilateral legal framework for the protection of biodiversity on the high seas, as well as for its environmentally and sustainably responsible use, addresses four main issues:.

• the management of marine genetic resources, including issues related to the sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation;
• area-based management tools, including marine protected areas;
• environmental impact assessments;
• capacity building and the transfer of marine technology.

Germany has signed the BBNJ Agreement but needs to prepare domestic legislation in order to notify formal ratification of the Agreement to the UN. Ecologic Institute examines the BBNJ Agreement for new obligations, for Germany, identifies necessary amendments to the German legal framework, and drafts proposals for such legal adjustments