Abstract
The next, and possibly final, round of the ‘Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction’ (BBNJ) negotiations will begin on February 20th, with high hopes for completion of a strong treaty. But significant issues remain unresolved across the package of issues, especially in regards to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs), and the Common Heritage of Mankind principle. And major decisions have yet to be made about the institutional architecture of the treaty, including central topics such as funding, and the decision-making mandates of the Conference of Parties, Scientific and Technical Body, and assorted committees. This talk will review the major unresolved issues in the draft treaty, and the expected lines of contention at the resumed IGC-5. We will also identify particular gaps in the emerging treaty design, and their implications for implementation and effectiveness. There is significant pressure to finalize the treaty in early 2023, but there is a risk of choosing a fast treaty over a well-designed one. We examine the foundations of this urgency by considering which actors are pushing for which types of resolutions, and the degree to which negotiation modalities may influence the pace and pattern of the draft treaty’s development.