Governing Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction: Roles and Opportunities for the Private Sector

The report examines how the BBNJ Agreement affects industries such as shipping, fisheries, and subsea cables, highlighting concerns over marine protected areas and environmental impact assessments while recommending early industry engagement and the use of private sector data to support conservation.

• Private sector actors identify area-based management tools (ABMTs), specifically marine protected areas (MPAs), and environmental impact assessments (EIAs) as their primary concerns. There is a fear that geographic restrictions could increase operating costs, such as forcing shipping vessels to take alternative routes, which would "require ships to bunker and burn additional fuel, thereby increasing greenhouse gas emissions."
• Industry participants express significant uncertainty regarding the implementation of EIAs, particularly the interpretation of terms like "minor and transitory" or "poorly understood." While existing activities may be exempt, there is concern that "future alterations to existing operations, such as the adoption of new fishing gear or the development of new shipping routes, could trigger burdensome requirements."
• A critical need for the private sector is regulatory consistency and clarity on how the BBNJ Agreement interacts with existing bodies like the IMO, ISA, and RFMOs. In the fisheries sector, some participants fear that "additional layers of governance could undermine existing efforts that are seeing success" and prefer implementation through existing RFMO measures.
• Implementation faces several challenges, including a lack of global authority for monitoring and enforcement, as state Parties are responsible for national-level measures. This creates a risk where "variation in state Parties’ relevant capacity, however, may result in insufficient monitoring and enforcement and undetected or unsanctioned non-compliance."
• There is a perceived risk of politicization within the BBNJ process, with some industry participants believing the process suffers from "capture by environmental interests." These actors argue that the goals of "protection and sustainable use" should be given equal weight to avoid unbalanced COP processes.
• The Agreement presents opportunities for technological innovation, particularly in data collection. Industry vessels could serve as platforms for collecting "FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data on ocean conditions, geographies, uses, ecosystems and ecosystem relationships," with a specific need for data covering the entire water column rather than just the surface.
• The report identifies a funding gap, noting that national obligations and voluntary contributions may be insufficient. One suggested solution to meet funding shortfalls is the implementation of "Ocean health levies on shipping activities, with revenues paid into a special fund."
• The document recommends that the Secretariat and Parties engage industry early to create stakeholder buy-in and leverage private sector expertise. It suggests that the COP should "explore creative ways to encourage implementation and compliance" through economic incentives and shared co-ownership of strategies.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Governing Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction: Roles and Opportunities for the Private Sector. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Governing_Marine_Biodiversity_Beyond_National_Jurisdiction_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Governing Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction: Roles and Opportunities for the Private Sector. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Governing_Marine_Biodiversity_Beyond_National_Jurisdiction_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Governing Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction: Roles and Opportunities for the Private Sector |date=September 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Governing_Marine_Biodiversity_Beyond_National_Jurisdiction_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024governing, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Governing Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction: Roles and Opportunities for the Private Sector}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Governing_Marine_Biodiversity_Beyond_National_Jurisdiction_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }