Pakistan on Monday signed a United Nations (UN) agreement aimed at conserving marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

In 2015, Pakistan’s seabed territory grew by about 50,000 square kilometres after a UN body accepted Islamabad’s claim for extension of sea limits.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar signed the “Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction” (BBNJ Agreement) at the UN Headquarters in New York.

The BBNJ pact is the third implementing agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), which was adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994.

Pakistan signing the BBNJ agreement “reflects on its commitment to multilateral cooperation and protection and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction”, the FO noted in a statement.

The BBNJ agreement was adopted on 19 June 2023 by an intergovernmental conference.

“Pakistan played a leading role in the negotiations to finalise the treaty,” the FO highlighted in a post on X.

“As chair of the Group of 77 and China during the two main sessions, Pakistan, representing developing countries, endeavoured to promote equity, in line with the principle of the common heritage of humankind.”

The FO statement recalled that Pakistan “consistently advocated for fair benefit-sharing, capacity-building, and technology transfer”.

According to the UN, the BBNJ agreement addresses four main issues:

1. Marine genetic resources, including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits
2. Measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas
3. Environmental impact assessments
4. Capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology.

The Unclos, under which the BBNJ pact falls, lays down a “comprehensive regime of law and order for the world’s oceans, establishing rules for the allocation of states’ rights and jurisdiction in maritime spaces, the peaceful use of the oceans and the management of their resources”.

Within Pakistan’s territory, Churna Island was last year designated as the country’s second-ever marine protected area in a bid to preserve its unique but eroding biodiversity.

In 2020, experts found “amazing wildlife”, well-diversified bird fauna, rich marine habitat and dozens of species of corals at Astola Island in Balochistan.