Introduction
On 19 June 2023, member States of the United Nations adopted, by consensus, 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. This instrument is more commonly known as the BBNJ Agreement and is the third implementing agreement to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC). The adoption of the BBNJ Agreement marks a pivotal turning point in the law of the sea by addressing regulatory, governance and institutional gaps and deficiencies in the existing international law framework whilst providing ‘a vital platform to improve integrated management of a changing ocean and supporting collaboration across regions and sectors to sustain marine ecosystems,’ including in the waters of Southeast Asia.
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