By taking a few key steps, Africa would leverage its strength in the agreement to influence future negotiations.
The BBNJ agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, which covers 64% of the ocean’s surface, entered into force on 17 January. While these shared resources are vital for the health of the planet and human well-being, they remain highly overexploited, polluted and misused in the absence of a comprehensive framework.
The Agreement addresses key governance and regulatory gaps, from the high seas to the international seabed.
At present, only 18 African countries (out of 54) are parties to the agreement and 36 have signed it. This means that Africa represents one fifth of all States Parties and almost a quarter of all signatories. The continent should be able to exert a stronger influence on the new system.
Africa represents the largest regional bloc in the United Nations (UN), yet its relative weight has not been reflected in the BBNJ agreement. The Asia-Pacific group now has 26 parties and 39 signatories in the evolving coalition policy surrounding the agreement.
According to UN rules, only states and regional economic organizations that have signed, ratified, approved, accepted or acceded to the agreement can participate fully in the Preparatory Commission (PrepCom), the interim body responsible for preparing its implementation. The PrepCom will meet for the third time in March to define the operational modalities to be discussed at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the BBNJ agreement, to be held later this year.
The longer Africa’s major powers delay in being parties to the agreement, the less chance the continent will have to influence global ocean governance. If we consider the economic, naval and scientific power, the countries concerned are Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. Angola and Tanzania are political leaders, through their respective chairmanships of the African Union (AU) and the Nairobi Convention, a regional agreement on ocean governance.
Africa’s 38 coastal states include small island developing states, least developed countries (LDCs) and middle-income countries (MICs). Sixteen other States are landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), most of them LDCs and three MICs. This unique diversity gives the continent a wide range of expertise in conservation, shipping, fisheries, deep-sea mining, and maritime safety.
Close and continuous coordination will be required from the Africa PrepCom Bureau members: Sierra Leone, Mauritius and South Africa. All African states parties to the BBNJ can participate fully to ensure that the treaty’s rules reflect and advance this range of perspectives.
The entry into force of the BBNJ marks the beginning of a new phase in the decades-long struggle to conserve and sustainably use areas beyond national jurisdiction, and to promote equity, access and development. To implement these goals in a tense geopolitical climate, Africa must combine the weight of its states, scientists, legal experts and other stakeholders.
It is essential that other African states become parties to the BBNJ. The current parties include world powers, such as France and China (which are bidding to host the agreement’s secretariat), as well as major contributors to the UN budget, such as Japan and Brazil. The United Kingdom and Germany intend to join before COP1.
Together, these countries can provide the UN with the funding needed to make the agreement work. As a result, the fiscal burden on African governments, a major financial problem to watch, will be manageable, allowing them to focus on governance and not costs.
In order to continue to shape the treaty to serve Africa’s security and economic interests and build ecological resilience, countries with the necessary technical, legal, and political capacity must convert their signatory status to party status.
Most of the States that have not signed or ratified the agreement are either LDCs or countries experiencing intense conflict and great economic fragility. Their lack of access to the ocean and their priorities must be taken into account by international actors seeking universal ratification.
Nevertheless, the fact that landlocked countries Malawi and Botswana are parties to the agreement, and that Lesotho, Zambia and Zimbabwe are signatories, shows that policymakers in African LDCs do not see the BBNJ as just a « coastal club ».
A country like Somalia, facing internal and regional security challenges, could find this treaty useful in building surveillance and control capacity to combat piracy and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
In a fractured global context, countries facing serious security challenges may be reluctant to engage in multilateral processes on other issues. Neighbouring countries that are signatories and parties to the agreement must show them that it offers more than global environmental protection: it is a strategic asset for national maritime security and the blue economy.
African policymakers must also clear up the « legal limbo » surrounding maritime boundaries and pending applications to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a UN body tasked with reviewing requests from states to expand their continental shelf. Most of these applications encroach on areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The BBNJ agreement does not affect the rights of states under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Countries concerned about harm to their continental shelf claims should therefore consult with their peers who are parties to the BBNJ and have similar claims in order to obtain the necessary guarantees to move forward.
To ensure that Africa does not miss the boat, three steps must be taken before COP1.
First, African signatories and potential States Parties can leverage international environmental resources to expedite ratification and prioritize national interests, particularly in the areas of marine science and security.
Second, the states party to the BBNJ agreement must work within their regional economic communities to help their neighbors. This includes Sierra Leone and Nigeria for the Economic Community of West African States, Seychelles and South Africa for the Southern African Development Community, and Kenya for the East African Community. These organizations have a mandate to facilitate peer-to-peer learning.
In addition, Kenya, as host of the upcoming Our Ocean Conference, and Angola, as AU Chairperson, should harmonize continental strategies.
Third, Africa must not allow external interests to dictate the agenda of the BBNJ agreement. States must resolve internal disputes on the continent over maritime borders that threaten to fracture the bloc. A united front can ensure that the treaty responds to African priorities.
With a partial COP1 scheduled for the end of 2026, the room for manoeuvre is rapidly shrinking. African countries must embark or stay ashore. Any delay in ratifications risks leaving the head of global ocean governance in the hands of the usual rich powers.
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source : issafrica
