Virtual Roundtable of the World Ocean Council (WOC) on the High Seas Treaty

It was  pleasure to be part of the High Virtual Roundtable organized by the World Ocean Council (WOC) on the High Seas Treaty today on 22 March 2023.

The world’s governments have finalized an historic agreement on protecting marine biodiversity in international waters — the treaty on Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) — after nearly 10 years of negotiations.

The new U.N. High Seas Treaty, as it is now known, covers the two-thirds of the ocean that lies outside national boundaries — nearly 50% of the planet’s surface. It provides a legal framework for establishing management areas and marine protected areas (MPAs), requiring environmental impact assessments (EIAs), building capacity and transferring marine technology, and sharing the benefits of the genetic resources of the high seas.

WOC Roundtables are by invitation only, designed to bring together relevant stakeholders for high-impact discussions. I have been invited to discuss as ecological economist about: "How we can better protect the wealth and diversity in the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean in general".
In this direction I think that the role of small or big countries is equally harmful as  if the marine environment is not protected

The virtual meeting  briefed the ocean business,  policymakers, experts,, investment and legal communities on the treaty’s implications for ocean economic activity, including the important opportunities for ocean industries to proactively engage in ensuring a healthy, productive, well-managed global ocean.

The WOC has been consistently involved in the informal and formal BBNJ process via webinars, briefing sessions at the WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) and analysis of the treaty text for the private sector.