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Abstract

Indonesia’s ratification of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) signals its entry into a new phase of ocean governance. Translating this commitment into practice requires understanding the Agreement’s scope, assessing its institutional design, and evaluating its implications for Indonesia’s marine legal framework. This paper applies a normative legal analysis and draws on international treaties, domestic laws, and policy instruments to examine the BBNJ’s four substantive pillars—marine genetic resources, area-based management tools, environmental impact assessments, and capacity building and technology transfer—and their relevance to global and national biodiversity governance. It considers the institutional and normative features of the Agreement, identifying key factors for implementation. Finally, it explores Indonesia’s pathway to operationalizing the BBNJ domestically through legal harmonization, institutional coordination, regional cooperation, and capacity development. The analysis argues that effective implementation will depend on coherent governance, sustained diplomatic engagement, and the integration of the BBNJ within Indonesia’s broader ocean policy framework.

References

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Books and Book Chapters

De Lucia, Vito, Alex Oude Elferink, and Lan Ngoc Nguyen, eds. International Law and Marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction: Reflections on Justice, Space, Knowledge and Power. Brill Nijhoff, 2022. doi:10.1163/9789004506367.

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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. UNTS 232 (opened for signature 20 September 2023, not yet in force).

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 1833 UNTS 3 (opened for signature 10 December 1982, entered into force 16 November 1994).

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