Sent 10 March 2023. Part of Little Blue Letter.

"The ship has reached the shore"
~ Rena Lee, President of the high seas treaty negotiations
A massive win for the Ocean
Late in the evening last Saturday, the President of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) tasked with elaborating an Agreement to protect global Ocean biodiversity declared, “The ship has reached the shore”. After a long and winding road of more than 15 years of discussions, consensus on an Agreement to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of  biodiversity in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) has finally been reached.

This is an historic moment for Ocean biodiversity, the law of the sea, the passion and dedicated community that has worked incredibly hard to get the treaty over the line, and for multilateralism in general. The Agreement sets out a process for declaring protected areas and conducting impact assessments, addresses longstanding questions regarding marine genetic resources (MGRs), and commits parties to strengthening capacity-building efforts.

For a more detailed overview, check out this blog post, setting out what is in the Agreement, what it could do, and what's happens next. You can also register for this webinar, next Wednesday, where experts will discuss the provisions, wins and losses, and next steps.

For a look inside the room where it happened, check out this lovely piece in the New Yorker.

President Rena Lee looks out at delegates to the IGC.
Credit: IISD
 
Gif of the week
Psychedelic deep-sea jellyfish.
Credit: Oceana
 
Reviving the Letter
I've brought the newsletter out of hibernation because this news is too good not to share, but you may have noticed that you haven't seen us for a while. Little Blue Letter was always a passion project, a labour of love that I could only dedicate so much time to. During covid, the number of curator sign-ups dropped, eventually to zero. (Fair enough, we were all sick of screens!)

I'd love to get it back up and running, and fulfilling it's original purpose: amplifying the voices of ocean-loving early-career researchers and connecting them to the ocean policy community. If you fancy writing an edition, please do sign-up, or forward to someone that might be interested!
Special edition by Glen Wright. Glen is a researcher studying marine governance, the high seas, and ocean energy. He is a drinker of tea, lover of the sea, and an Oxford comma user. See also: Academia Obscura: The Hidden Silly Side of Higher Education.
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