Belgium promotes Brussels as candidate to host High Seas Treaty secretariat at UN
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Belgium is promoting Brussels' bid to host the secretariat of the treaty to protect marine biodiversity in the high seas. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Treaty, also known as the High Seas Treaty or Global Ocean Treaty, was adopted last year.
At a reception on Monday evening at the Belgian Permanent Mission to the UN, Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo promoted the gastronomy, conviviality, diversity and central location of the Belgian and European capital.
Blue Leader
More importantly, despite having only 65 km of coastline, Belgium is a leading maritime nation with a world-class port, De Croo pointed out. And the country is one of the founders of the Blue Leaders alliance. This is a group of some thirty countries that have pledged to protect at least 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030.
Belgium also played a leading role in negotiating the BBNJ treaty, which was adopted last year. It aims to regulate activities on the high seas, such as fishing, transport and underwater mining, by requiring environmental impact assessments to be carried out. It also paves the way for the creation of marine protected areas and the transfer of maritime technology and capacity-building to developing countries.
Belgium or Chile
The BBNJ has not yet entered into force because it needs at least sixty national ratifications, and only eight have been registered so far. Once sixty governments have ratified the treaty, the first Conference of the Parties (COP) will meet and vote on the location of the secretariat.
Brussels is competing with the port city of Valparaiso in Chile to host the secretariat of the BBNJ. But unlike Belgium, Chile has already ratified the treaty. Belgium still has time, however, as it will take some time before sixty countries have ratified it. A decision on the location of the BBNJ headquarters is not expected until 2025 at the earliest.
De Croo will continue his lobbying for Brussels on Tuesday. The outgoing prime minister will also call for an acceleration of the ratification process of the treaty.
© BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE
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