Discurso do Representante Permanente, Embaixador Sérgio França Danese, em evento paralelo da Semana do Direito Internacional intitulado "Resoluções de Disputas sob o Acordo BBNJ" - 22 de outubro de 2024 (texto em inglês)

Opening remarks by the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, Ambassador Sérgio França Danese, at the International Law Week side-event “Dispute Settlement under the BBNJ Agreement”
October 22nd, 2024

Dear Colleagues, dear friends,

I thank Türkiye for co-organizing this event and hosting us in its beautiful Mission. I also thank  Portugal for its cooperation in enabling us to convene a meeting of special interest to the participants of the International Law Week. I am most grateful to the panelists for their participation and all of you for your presence.     

The BBNJ Agreement had been almost twenty years in the making before, if I am not mistaken, a 38-hour non-stop meeting full of heated debate gave it a proper closure in March last year.

It was yet another glorious moment for multilateralism and the international community. It was a proof that, with political will and a spirit of compromise, the United Nations can overcome the prevailing polarization and political divisions to the benefit of humankind.

And it was one of these accomplishments that make us proud of the United Nations, in contrast with so many frustrations and bitterness that, for example, come out of the Security Council, unfortunately the UN’s most visible face in the eyes of public opinion.

To reach the agreement enshrined in the BBNJ, it was essential to ensure that the views of a plurality of stakeholders, including States that are not Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, were taken into account.

The BBNJ Agreement is governed by the principle of the common heritage of humankind, a general rule of customary international law. Not only the Area and its mineral resources but also the marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction are the common heritage of humankind.

The activities for their conservation and sustainable use, for present and future generations, shall be carried out for the benefit of humankind as a whole.

The BBNJ Agreement sets out rules for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from activities with respect to and digital sequence information on marine genetic resources.

It establishes a system of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, governs environmental impact assessments, and enables capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology.

In the implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, it is essential to bear in mind its dispute settlement system.

Today we are joined by highly qualified panelists, including some who were directly involved in the negotiations of the BBNJ Agreement’s articles on dispute settlement, such as Professor George Galindo. Professor Galindo is the Brazilian Ministry of External Affairs’s Legal Advisor and also the Brazilian candidate to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

I am looking forward to hearing our knowledgeable panelists and attendees about their thoughts on the topic of dispute settlement under the BBNJ Agreement. This is a necessary reflection we are promoting today for its effective implementation in the future.

With this in mind, I wish you all a fruitful discussion.

Thank you.