UN high seas treaty: Experts discuss how to make it work

The UN high seas treaty, also known as the BBNJ Agreement, entered into force on January 17, 2026. But it remains unclear how to make it work in practice or how to let the world understand the ideas of ocean conservation.

Experts had a discussion on this topic on November 8 at a side event of the 7th Symposium on Global Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, which launched in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province.

Themed "A Blue Ocean Promise – A Global Narrative," the event brought together scholars and representatives of media organizations and universities from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Sweden, Belgium and other countries and regions.

Biodiversity is a "toolbox' and a "storehouse of ideas" that humanity needs to protect, said Jiao Nianzhi, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and chair and chief scientist of the UN-endorsed Global Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions (Global ONCE) Programme. "Protecting biodiversity means protecting humanity itself and protecting humanity's future."

Scientists can help put the agreement into practice by turning theory into standards and methods, he added.

The Agreement offers "breathing space" to the ocean, said Aileen Tan Shau Hwai, chairperson of the Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, a fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. This allows marine life to adapt to climate change that humans cannot stop, she said.

The side event also featured presentations on China's role in the BBNJ Agreement. China continues to make deep-diving platforms such as Jiaolong and Fendouzhe available to international partners, has established a marine microbial resource repository and scientific research databases, and makes biological samples and data available, said Zheng Miaozhuang, director of the Marine Environment and Resources Research Division at the China Institute for Marine Affairs under China's Ministry of Natural Resources.

The BBNJ Agreement, or 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, is seen as a landmark victory for multilateralism in global ocean governance and an important milestone in the development of the international law of the sea.

The side event was hosted by the Global Chinese Program Center of China Media Group, the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, the China Oceanic Development Foundation and the Hainan Free Trade Port Research Institute, with support from China Media Group's Hainan Bureau.