- From September 20, 2023
- UN Headquarters, USA
On 19 June 2023, governments formally adopted the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity or areas beyond national jurisdiction (the “BBNJ treaty”). The Agreement opened for signature in New York from 20 September 2023 and shall remain open for signature until 20 September 2025.
Signature only represents an intention to ratify, and a commitment to not undermine the objectives of the treaty, though. States must still also go through domestic ratification processes as a formal ‘consent to be bound’ by the treaty. And the BBNJ treaty only enters into force, becoming binding on its members, after 60 ratifications.
Follow the high seas treaty ratification tracker implemented by the High Seas Alliance to see who has signed and ratified the BBNJ treaty.
Number of states
that have signed the BBNJ treaty to date
*Update: March 5, 2024
