On 3 September 2018 in New York, the STRONG High Seas project, together with Germany, the Abidjan Convention Secretariat and the Secretariat of the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific, hosted a capacity building workshop to support State delegates to the negotiations on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).
The workshop provided the opportunity to bring together ministry representatives and UN negotiators from the Southeast Pacific and Southeast Atlantic regions to:
- Prepare for the BBNJ negotiations in terms of what they would entail and what could be expected;
- Contribute to a better understanding of the BBNJ negotiations in terms of the opportunities and challenges of the negotiations of an international instrument on BBNJ for the Southeast Pacific and Southeast Atlantic regions;
- Highlight the importance, opportunities and challenges of regional ocean governance approaches for the implementation of a future BBNJ agreement under UNCLOS;
- Provide a networking opportunity for participants from different regions and countries and ensure mutual learning.
The agenda from the workshop can be found here.
The STRONG High Seas project (‘Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas’) is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
