On 22 January 2024, the United Nations Legal Counsel, Mr. Miguel de Serpa Soares, received from Ms. Ilana Seid, the Permanent Representative of Palau to the United Nations, Palau’s instrument of ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).
Palau is the first State to ratify the BBNJ Agreement which opened for signature on 20 September 2023 and will enter into force 120 days after the deposit of the sixtieth instrument of ratification, approval, acceptance or accession. The Legal Counsel congratulated Palau for leading the way and expressed his hope that they will inspire others to do the same as soon as possible.
The BBNJ Agreement is the first comprehensive, cross-sectoral ocean treaty since the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted more than 40 years ago and has the potential to make crucial contributions to addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as to achieving ocean-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
