Two University of Aberdeen experts have played a significant role in shaping a landmark international agreement designed to protect marine life across vast areas of the world’s oceans beyond national borders.
Professor Marcel Jaspars from the School of Natural and Computing Sciences and Professor Abbe Brown from the School of Law have spent more than a decade contributing their scientific and legal expertise to the development of the United Nations Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement.
Known as the High Seas Treaty or UN Ocean Biodiversity Treaty, the agreement has now been ratified by the UK alongside more than 90 other countries.
The treaty was adopted under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2023 and is intended to improve the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Those waters account for nearly two thirds of the world’s oceans, yet until now there has been no legal mechanism specifically allowing marine protected areas to be created on the high seas.
The agreement is also intended to support the international ambition of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Professors Jaspars and Brown contributed throughout the negotiations, working on complex questions surrounding marine genetic resources, the sharing of benefits and intellectual property.
Their expertise in marine biodiscovery, science policy and international law helped inform an agreement intended to provide stronger environmental protection while remaining scientifically practical and legally robust.
Their involvement continued during the UK’s ratification process through collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, providing documentation and expert commentary which informed the development of the UK’s legal text.
Professor Jaspars said:
“The ocean is one of our planet’s most important life-support systems.
“Protecting biodiversity in international waters is essential not only for marine ecosystems, but also for global efforts to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.”
Professor Brown added:
“The agreement establishes stronger protections for marine biodiversity and introduces mechanisms to ensure the fair sharing of benefits derived from marine genetic resources.
“These resources, found in ocean organisms, have significant potential for applications in medicine, biotechnology, agriculture and scientific research.”
The significance of those resources extends considerably beyond conservation, with discoveries from marine organisms potentially contributing to future medicines, biotechnology, agriculture and scientific research.
Healthy oceans also provide food, produce oxygen and play an important role in regulating the global climate, making protection of biodiversity far beyond individual national waters an international concern.
As more countries ratify the agreement, it is expected to become an important part of global ocean governance and efforts to conserve vulnerable habitats and species for future generations.
For Aberdeen, there is also something quietly remarkable about two university researchers spending more than a decade helping shape an international agreement that could influence how almost two thirds of the world’s oceans are protected.
