The United Nations will convene a session on the “conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ)” next month.
If you’re in the United States, the US State Department is hosting an online, public meeting to prepare for that session.
The meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, and “will be held by way of WebEx, with a capacity of up to 1000 members of the public to participate,” according to a recent public notice, which adds:
“The United Nations will convene the resumed fifth session of the BBNJ [Intergovernmental Conference] from February 20-March 3, 2023, in New York City. The UN General Assembly established the IGC to consider the recommendations of a two-year Preparatory Committee and to elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea on BBNJ. This resumed session is a continuation of the session held from August 15-26, 2022. It is anticipated that the BBNJ Agreement may be adopted at the conclusion of negotiations in this session. Additional information on the BBNJ process is available at www.un.org/bbnj.
“We are inviting interested U.S. stakeholders to this virtual public meeting to share views about the BBNJ IGC, in particular to provide information to assist the U.S. Government in developing its positions. We will provide a brief overview of the upcoming negotiations and listen to the viewpoints of U.S. stakeholders. The information obtained from this session will help the U.S. delegation prepare for participation in the resumed fifth IGC session.”
To RSVP for the online meeting, check out the notice here.
