-Todd says being carefully considered, must be in best interest of country
France is pressing Guyana to sign on to a UN marine biological diversity pact and Georgetown says it is looking closely at the issue.
According to the UN website, the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) was adopted on 19 June 2023 by the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction convened under the auspices of the United Nations.
Its objective is to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, for the present and in the long term, through effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the Convention and further international cooperation and coordination.
“It is going through now, the various agencies. It is now with the Office of Climate Change. They are going through clause by clause and they will have to advise from their level,” Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd told Stabroek News on Wednesday when contacted.
“What we commit to now is the multilateral approach in terms of ocean governance. Same thing with the Samoa Agreement [that we had to examine before signing on]. We circulate the document throughout all of the agencies that will have a role to play and these things can take time for them to peruse. That is the process it is going through,” he added.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs explained that for this country, the process to signing may be longer than other countries because we “don’t have the luxury of the manpower of many of the other countries,” as here “we have people doing more than one job.”
“It is a treaty and when [it’s] done you are legally bound so we have to be prudent…,” Todd emphasised.
Guyana’s stance comes as even as France continues to lobby this country to be a signatory and ratify the agreement and possibly assist in getting the CARICOM bloc to do the same.
Non-Resident French Ambassador to Guyana Nicolas de Lacoste in an interview on Wednesday told Stabroek News that Paris is hoping that Georgetown signs on to the pact by June of this year when the oceans conference is held, as the agreement has many benefits. He said that this country has informed that it was examining possible repercussions before a commitment is made.
Involved
“Guyana has not signed nor has ratified but has been very much involved in the negotiations of the treaty. The negotiation of the Treaty itself was done by CARICOM as a bloc and Guyana played a very active role when negotiating the text. And now that it is opened, 45 countries have ratified but for the Treaty to be entered into force 60 countries are needed and we really hope that Guyana and CARICOM countries will be in the Group of those 60 that would have signed and ratified,” Ambassador de Lacoste said.
He noted that the benefits are many and the agreement ensures that “there will be no impact on the EEZ [Exclusive Economic Zones].
“It is one thing to sign and another to not know the repercussions. You have to know what you are committing to. Guyana still wants to know what it is committing itself; as far as it financing as far as it is whatever commitments the Treaty will impose on the member states,” Todd explained.
The BBJN pact was formed out of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is a comprehensive international treaty that sets out rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources, including maritime commerce, coastal state interests, marine environment protection, marine scientific research, and international dispute settlement.
The scope of application of the agreement applies to areas beyond national jurisdiction but has exceptions.
“This Agreement does not apply to any warship, military aircraft or naval auxiliary. Except for Part II, this Agreement does not apply to other vessels or aircraft owned or operated by a Party and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service. However, each Party shall ensure, by the adoption of appropriate measures not impairing the operations or operational capabilities of such vessels or aircraft owned or operated by it, that such vessels or aircraft act in a manner consistent, so far as is reasonable and practicable, with this Agreement,” it states.
The agreement also states in its “Without Prejudice” section that, “including any decision or recommendation of the Conference of the Parties or any of its subsidiary bodies, and any acts, measures or activities undertaken on the basis thereof, shall be without prejudice to, and shall not be relied upon as a basis for asserting or denying any claims to, sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction, including in respect of any disputes relating thereto.”
In order to achieve the objectives of the Agreement, it says that Parties shall be guided by a number of principles. “(a) The polluter-pays principle; (b) The principle of the common heritage of humankind which is set out in the Convention; (c) The freedom of marine scientific research, together with other freedoms of the high seas; (d) The principle of equity and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits; (e) The precautionary principle or precautionary approach, as appropriate; (f) An ecosystem approach.”
It continues, “(g) An integrated approach to ocean management; (h) An approach that builds ecosystem resilience, including to adverse effects of climate change and ocean acidification, and also maintains and restores ecosystem integrity, including the carbon cycling services that underpin the role of the ocean in climate; (i) The use of the best available science and scientific information (j) The use of relevant traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, where available; (k) The respect, promotion and consideration of their respective obligations, as applicable, relating to the rights of Indigenous Peoples or of, as appropriate, local communities when taking action to address the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction; (l) The non-transfer, directly or indirectly, of damage or hazards from one area to another and the non-transformation of one type of pollution into another in taking measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment; (m) Full recognition of the special circumstances of small island developing States and of least developed countries; (n) Acknowledgement of the special interests and needs of landlocked developing countries.”
And when it comes to international cooperation, the agreement states that Parties shall cooperate for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, including through strengthening and enhancing cooperation with and promoting cooperation among relevant legal instruments and frameworks and relevant global, regional, sub regional and sectoral bodies in the achievement of its objectives.
And in June of this year when there is the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France, where the BBNJ Agreement will take centre stage and France hopes that at there will be at least 60 ratifications by that time, Guyana says it cannot promise that, but will be there in full support.
“We will attend still chairing the Committee in CARICOM,” Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister said.
Observers say that Guyana’s vast and growing oil operations in the Atlantic would likely give pause for thought on signing on to the pact without reservations.
