Area-based management tools under the BBNJ Agreement: Ambition or illusion?

Abstract

This article intends to answer the question of whether and to what extent the arrangements for area-based management tools (ABMTs) under the Agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) can contribute to the comprehensiveness, coherence and consistency of the international legal regime relating to ABMTs. To answer this question, the article analyses and evaluates the key aspects of the arrangements for ABMTs of the BBNJ Agreement, including consistency with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the interpretation of ‘not undermining’, decision making and the implementation mechanism. It concludes that the arrangements for ABMTs of the BBNJ Agreement are consistent with the UNCLOS and may contribute to the comprehensiveness, coherence and consistency of the international legal regime relating to ABMTs to a large extent. The article further notes that the arrangements for ABMTs of the BBNJ Agreement are ambitious, but lots of work needs to be done to ensure the ambition does not become an illusion.