IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Paper - Marine series

Marine resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) are under increasing pressure from human impacts, putting at risk biodiversity, ecosystem processes and function. There is a heightened focus on whether current arrangements and policies are adequate. This paper explores possible elements of a new instrument to protect such biodiversity – an Implementation Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This paper contains a case study on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in the part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) that is located in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The purpose of this paper is to review the scope and functioning of applicable regional regimes and to identify if, and what kind of, regulatory and/or governance gaps exist. The case study complements and should be read in conjunction with the other three studies in this Marine Series.

The second paper in this marine series builds on the complementary study described in Marine Series No. 1 that identified several significant regulatory and governance gaps in the international regime for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).

Sixty-four percent of the world ocean lies in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The first paper in this four-part series was prepared to address the question of whether there is a regulatory or governance gap in the international regime for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and, if so, how it should be addressed. The study reveals that important regulatory and governance gaps still exist.