OTZ Team’s Science Informs Groundbreaking UN Treaty

After two decades of negotiations, diplomats at the United Nations have finalized the text for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) treaty, a groundbreaking piece of international law that will help to protect sensitive mid-ocean environments like the twilight zone. Since the beginning of the OTZ project four years ago, our scientists and policy experts have informed the treaty’s drafting process by educating participants, observerving various UN sessions, creating informational reports, and organizing panel discussions. 

Now that the text of the UN’s groundbreaking Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) treaty is final, all sixty participant nations will need to ratify the document in September 2023. Since all member states are required to report their key activities and environmental impact in the open ocean, the work of OTZ scientists in documenting and quantifying the twilight zone will play a more important role than ever. Our research is building a baseline record of the environment within the mesopelagic, and is producing novel data sets that will let member states craft regulations based in real science—work that will help to tackle environmental degradation, fight climate change, and prevent biodiversity loss.