Global ocean governance is shifting toward coordinated control of nearly two-thirds of the planet’s waters as the BBNJ agreement comes into force alongside existing regulatory bodies, according to the International Seabed Authority.
The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, with vast areas lying beyond national borders in the high seas water column and the international seabed area.
While the seabed has long been governed under a centralized framework, oversight of the water column has remained fragmented across multiple institutions with limited coordination.
That structural gap has allowed cumulative environmental pressure to accelerate, including plastic and nutrient pollution, rising temperatures and acidification, overfishing and destructive practices such as bottom trawling.
The absence of an integrated ecosystem-level regulator has weakened biodiversity resilience and the natural systems supporting global food supply, climate stability and ocean-based economic activity.
The BBNJ agreement is designed to tighten governance without reopening the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, reinforcing cooperation among states and sectoral bodies rather than replacing them.
It operates alongside fisheries authorities, maritime regulators and the ISA, introducing cross-cutting coordination on biodiversity protection and cumulative environmental impacts.
Core tools under the framework include area-based management measures such as marine protected areas, intended to introduce conservation regimes in international waters where few currently exist.
Environmental impact assessments, scientific data exchange and monitoring are set to become central to decision-making on offshore industrial activity.
Capacity-building and marine technology transfer, particularly for developing states, are positioned as pillars of the new governance model, expanding participation in research, oversight and regulatory processes.
As implementation advances through 2026, the central challenge will be aligning legacy institutions with the new biodiversity framework to deliver coherent, science-driven management across the global ocean.
The International Seabed Authority is an autonomous international organization established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It develops and enforces the regulatory regime for mineral-related activities in the international seabed area, with responsibility for environmental protection linked to seabed resource operations.
The Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction is a legally binding UNCLOS instrument creating a cooperative system for protecting biodiversity on the high seas through impact assessments, governance coordination, capacity-building and area-based management mechanisms.