As part of the Secretariat’s capacity-building and technical-assistance project to assist member countries in their ratification and implementation of the 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 (BBNJ Agreement), we are pleased to announce the second webinar in a series of six dedicated to the BBNJ Agreement.
The objective of the second webinar in the series is to undertake a deep dive into the legal and policy issues concerning Marine Genetic Resources (MGRs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction, and examine the access and benefit-sharing regime under the BBNJ Agreement.
Topics to be covered include:
- The scientific and legal perspectives of MGRs
- Activities relating to MGRs
- Accessing MGRs and notification to the Clearing-House mechanism
- The fair and equitable sharing of benefits
- Country perspective on ratification considerations and processes generally and specifically with respect to MGRs
- Country perspective on the implementation of Part II (MGRs, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits) at the national level
Speakers include:
- Alison Swaddling, Ocean Governance Advisor, Commonwealth Secretariat
- Marcel Jaspars, Professor of Organic Chemistry, Marine Biodiscovery Centre, University of Aberdeen
- Fran Humphries, Associate Professor in Environmental Law, Griffith University Law School, Australia
- Ambassador Janine Felson, Deputy Permanent Representative of Belize to the United Nations
- Joseph Keenan, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, United Kingdom
- Moderator: Sarah Lothian, Senior Lecturer and Academic Barrister at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong.
This event is open to Commonwealth member country representatives, policymakers, stakeholders, and any other interested persons.
