How can science support and enable the High Seas Treaty?

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement—often known as the High Seas Treaty—came into force in January 2026 following almost two decades of negotiations. Its key objectives are the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas that lie outside any single country's jurisdiction, remote areas that make up roughly two-thirds of the global ocean—areas that remain largely unexplored but hold as yet unquantified levels of valuable biodiversity and resources.