Maldives signs UN agreement on biodiversity
The agreement sets up a procedure to establish large-scale marine protected areas.
Maldives on Tuesday signed the BBNJ Agreement as its 92nd signatory.
On the behalf of the Maldives, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed, signed the agreement at a ceremony held in the UN headquarters in New York.
In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly decided to develop a legally binding instrument relating to the protection and sustainable use of marine biological diversity and areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Following this, the substance of the instrument was compiled in the years between 2016 and 2023, and the legal instrument was adopted on 19 June 2023 at the General Assembly in the form of an Agreement.
On February 11, the cabinet concluded to sign and ratify the agreement and submitted the case to the parliament on February 29 for parliamentary approval. On May 13, the parliament gave the consent to be a party to the agreement.
Where the protection of the biodiversity within the territorial sea of the Maldives is a significant responsibility of the Maldives, this responsibility includes ensuring the area beyond its national jurisdiction and the biological diversity contained within are protected and sustainably used.
To that end the agreement sets up a procedure to establish large-scale marine protected areas.
The agreement contains marine technological transfer mechanisms and formalities relating to fighting climate change. As these are important to the protection of the territorial sea, the Maldives stands to gain significant benefits from being a party to this Agreement.
Until the signing of the agreement by the Maldives, 91 countries had signed the agreement while 8 countries have ratified the agreement.
The agreement is open for signature by all countries until September 20, 2025 and will enter into force 120 days after the 60th country has ratified the agreement.
