MARBLES partner UNIABDN: Sharing the benefits of the ocean
Members of MARBLES partner University of Aberdeen (UNIABDN), Abbe Brown (Professor in Law) and Marcel Jaspars (Professor in Chemistry) and partner ABS International (ABSint) Thomas Vanagt will be attending the next set of biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) treaty negotiations planned at BBNJ IGC5bis from 20 February – 3 March 2023, where they will be providing scientific input. There is a great deal of optimism that an ambitious BBJBN Treaty will be agreed by the end of these negotiations.
The MARBLES UNIABDN researchers previously attended the United Nation’s Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC5) which took place from 15-26 August 2022 in New York, USA. Both Abbe and Marcel served as expert advisors to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Abbe for the World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) and Marcel for the World Council on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). During IGC5, the workshop ‘Ask the Experts Drop-in Session to Discuss Issues on the BBNJ Treaty’ was held on 20 August 2022. Hosted by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - Deep-ocean resources and biodiscovery (UK DEFRA DEEPEND*), and MARBLES; the workshop was an open forum to answer technical questions delegates had on the BBNJ treaty. The workshop was attended by 40 delegates, with a range of experts on hand to answer queries, including some from G77, CARICOM, CLAM, the African Group, EU, Japan and USA as well as legal and policy experts and scientists with backgrounds in marine genetic resources (MGR), marine protected areas (MPAs), environmental impact assessment (EIA) and capacity development. The workshop was a great success, proving to be an excellent way to connect and prompt discussions with different delegations around MGR and in particular mechanisms for the sharing of benefits in a neutral setting. Discussions influenced different proposals for benefit sharing mechanisms including a ‘flat fee’ system (proposed by Maripoldata), a decoupled approach (UK/EU) and an end user/product registration system (Brazil). These discussions led to the follow-on event of the MARBLES Workshop: Untangling the BBNJ MGR Proposals. Again, MARBLES partners Abbe and Marcel organised and participated in the workshop which took place online from 23-24 January 2023. It remains to be seen what the final outcome will be at BBNJ IGC5bis, so stay tuned!
The ‘Sharing the benefits of the ocean’ initiative has seen MARBLES colleagues Marcel and Abbe working to stimulate progress on international efforts to negotiate a new legally binding instrument under the UN’s Convention on Laws of the Sea. It seeks to regulate marine BBJN and realise the benefits which can be obtained from the oceans in developing new medicines and other products.
* UK DEEPEND – Deep-ocean resources and biodiscovery – enabling a sustainable and healthy low-carbon future. DEEPEND aims to develop a long-term project to understand biodiversity's value (societal and economic) in deep-sea regions at risk from mining and climate change. Partnership with PSIDS via USP, SPC, ComSec, Cook Islands and Kiribati.