Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: HL Bill 148 of 2024–26

Approximate time to read: 25 minutes

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Bill is intended to align UK law with an international agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction: 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).

The bill would enable the UK to enforce UK craft compliance with area-based management tools, such as marine protected areas, in international waters, in line with decisions made by the Conference of the Parties to the BBNJ agreement. It would also require environmental impact assessments for activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction that may impact marine biodiversity.

The bill also sets out requirements for UK-based or affiliated projects and vessels collecting marine genetic resources from international waters, including advance notification, post-collection reporting, and public access to digital sequence information.

While the principles of the bill had broad support in the House of Commons, the opposition did attempt to amend the bill at committee stage to increase parliamentary scrutiny of secondary powers. The House did not pass those amendments. Three government amendments passed without division: two making minor changes to wording, and one to permit the Isle of Man to be included, following its consent.

The government has published ‘Explanatory notes’ and two impact assessments alongside the bill: ‘Marine genetic resource measures impact assessment’ and ‘Area-based management tools and environmental impact assessment measures’. The government has also published a delegated powers memorandum.