Abstract
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement marks a historic shift in the law of the sea: States have committed to a legally binding regime for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from marine genetic resources (MGRs) of areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). However, the text of the treaty alone will not deliver these outcomes. What remains critically underdeveloped is the infrastructure, both technical and institutional, that can translate legal commitments into operational mechanisms.
This Article identifies a core implementation challenge: how to make Article 14’s benefit-sharing regime functional in practice. Article 14 establishes a legal obligation to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of both monetary and non-monetary benefits arising from the utilisation of MGRs collected in ABNJ. By grounding these obligations in the collective interest of humanity over resources located in the global commons, the provision embeds a principle of equity within the treaty framework. The benefit-sharing regime thus functions as a normative and operational instrument to support the overarching objectives of the BBNJ Agreement: the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. We argue that the future of the BBNJ clearing-house mechanism (ClHM), established under Article 51, must serve as the treaty’s digital backbone, providing the provenance tracking, data transparency, and compliance capabilities necessary to render Article 14’s benefit-sharing regime functional in practice. Drawing on two working models–Brazil’s SISGen (National System for the Management of Genetic Heritage and Associated Traditional Knowledge) platform and Intellectual Property Non-Fungible Tokens (IP-NFTs)–we explore tools that could inform the ClHM’s development. We close with specific design questions for consideration during the second session of the BBNJ Preparatory Commission, starting 18 August 2025.
This Article identifies a core implementation challenge: how to make Article 14’s benefit-sharing regime functional in practice. Article 14 establishes a legal obligation to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of both monetary and non-monetary benefits arising from the utilisation of MGRs collected in ABNJ. By grounding these obligations in the collective interest of humanity over resources located in the global commons, the provision embeds a principle of equity within the treaty framework. The benefit-sharing regime thus functions as a normative and operational instrument to support the overarching objectives of the BBNJ Agreement: the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. We argue that the future of the BBNJ clearing-house mechanism (ClHM), established under Article 51, must serve as the treaty’s digital backbone, providing the provenance tracking, data transparency, and compliance capabilities necessary to render Article 14’s benefit-sharing regime functional in practice. Drawing on two working models–Brazil’s SISGen (National System for the Management of Genetic Heritage and Associated Traditional Knowledge) platform and Intellectual Property Non-Fungible Tokens (IP-NFTs)–we explore tools that could inform the ClHM’s development. We close with specific design questions for consideration during the second session of the BBNJ Preparatory Commission, starting 18 August 2025.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Cambridge |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
| Edition | Cambridge International Law Journal Blog |
| Media of output | Blog |
| Publication status | Published - 18 Aug 2025 |