論國家管轄範圍以外地區海洋生物多樣性議題之談判發展以及當前之挑戰

A Study on the Development of the BBNJ Negotiations and Its Current Challenges

以「國家管轄範圍以外地區」海洋生物多樣性議題談判之發展來說，2018年開始召開相關會議，冀望通過《聯合國海洋法公約》架構下之《BBNJ協定》，象徵在新世紀中海洋法之重要發展。其涵蓋內容廣泛、參與談判者眾多，甚至其談判複雜度遠高於公約之第一和第二執行協定，亦即《深海床協定》和《魚群協定》。加以受到新冠肺炎影響，原訂於2020年召開之第四會期通過草案之安排一再延期，轉為召開非正式、線上會議。儘管透過線上會議進行談判準備具有相關優點，但若涉及實質公約之草案通過，依據國際法觀點仍礙於實體談判中所呈現之身體語言、人際關係和會場氣氛仍是達成終局談判不可或缺之要素。加以第四會期結束後，依然留有重要議題未達共識，而必須再藉由2022年8月召開第五會期持續進行談判。有鑒於相關議題複雜，欲於短期內達成終局談判、通過規範，恐怕尚待國際社會更多努力。

Given the need to adopt a new set of rules on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on an International Legally Binding Instruments (ILBI) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of ABNJ with a series of four sessions are to be held from 2018 to 2020. This ILBI is to be adopted under the LOS Convention as an enforcement agreement. It symbolizes the progressive development of the law of the sea in the 21st century. Given its wide covered issues and numerous participated negotiators, its complexity over the negotiations and difficulty in reaching the consensus are more significant than the negotiations regarding the Deep Seabed Agreement and the Fish Stocks Agreement taken place in the 1990s. In addition, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic starting from late 2019, the fourth session of IGC originally scheduled to be held in 2020 has been repeatedly postponed. The preparatory meetings have been converted to informal and online meetings. Although there are advantages to prepare negotiations via online meetings, in order to adopt drafted substantive agreement, the body language, interpersonal relationship and meeting atmosphere are still indispensable. Moreover, consensus over some important issues were not reached in the fourth session of IGC. Planned was the fifth session in August 2022 to continue the negotiations. Given the complex issues in the negotiations, to reach the conclusion and adopt the ILBI in the near future requires more efforts of the international society.