JCLOS and FNI organize side event to the first UN negotiating session towards a new agreement on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction"

Next week, the BBNJ process will take an important step. In fact, the first substantive session of the Intergovernmental Conference launched by the UN General Assembly with a resolution adopted in December, 24.  2017,  will open on September 4.

Side Event

JCLOS Postdoc Fellow Dr. Vito De Lucia will chair a side event organized by the K. G. Jebsen Center for the Law of the Sea (JCLOS) together with the Fritdjof Nansen Institute (FNI) on the implications of a future ILBI for Arctic biodiversity governance.

The side event will include speakers from JCLOS (Ms Kristine Kraabel), from FNI (Mr Christian Prip) as well as an ecologist from UiT the Arctic university of Norway (Prof. Raul Primicerio). It is also our honour to have among the panelists Ambassador David Balton, now a fellow at the Wilson Center.

Forum to discuss

This side event will provide a forum for participants to discuss the possible implications of an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction for Arctic marine governance within the context of relevant Arctic initiatives, with a view to comparing efforts and highlighting areas of convergence, overlap and potential conflict.

Part of project on Arctic Biodiversity Govenance

The side event is part of a project on Arctic Biodiversity Governance titled “Towards a global treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction – implications for Arctic Ocean ecosystem governance? (ARCTIC-BBNJ)”. 

The project is funded by the “Arctic Ocean” Flagship Program of the (High North Research Center for Climate and the Environment) and the Norwegian Polar Institute. Attached is a Pdf file with a description of the side event, which will take place on Wednesday September 12.