The meeting is expected to clarify possible scenarios given the rapid approach of the deadline triggered by Nauru’s request to apply for approval of a deep-sea mineral exploitation plan.

Expected by many to be a game changer in Ocean governance, a new legally binding agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) was adopted by consensus at UN Headquarters in New York after 17 years of negotiations.

While the meeting was characterized by procedural scuffles, long delays, and late nights, delegates shared views on an options paper and set out a path for the intersessional period leading to the next negotiating session, mandating the preparation of a “zero draft” of the new treaty to address plastics pollution.

Held in a spirit of celebration of recent international progress, notably the newly agreed UN high seas treaty, the 14th Meeting of the Monaco Blue Initiative discussed options for ocean conservation and a sustainable blue economy. Debates centered on fisheries, marine protected areas, ecosystem restoration and scaling solutions.