Philippines reaffirms commitment to ratify, promote High Seas Treaty

July 7, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines reaffirmed its commitment to the early ratification and entry into force of the Agreement on the Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) in its participation in events at the Third United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France.

The Philippine advocacy for the BBNJ Agreement – also commonly referred to as the High Seas Treaty – was articulated by Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Undersecretary Drusila Esther Bayate during a high-level side event titled “Celebrating High Seas Progress: The Race for Ratification and Impending Entry into Force of the High Seas Treaty” and co-sponsored by Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, France, European Union, Germany, Korea, Nigeria, Maldives, Palau, the Philippines and Seychelles, at the UNOC3 Blue Zone. 

The side event provided a venue for participants to highlight the progress their countries have made toward the ratification of the BBNJ Agreement, and their respective domestic initiatives to promote the agreement’s prompt and effective implementation.

Bayate underscored that the Philippines was among the first signatories of the BBNJ Agreement in 2023, and has since ratified the international convention.

The agreement is currently undergoing the concurrence process of the Philippine Senate, in accordance with the 1987 Philippine Constitution, after which the country’s instrument of ratification can already be deposited with the UN.

In another side event, titled “From Treaty to Action: Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation for the High Seas,” Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Marshall Louis Alferez highlighted the roles of developing countries to ensure a more transparent and inclusive implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, noting that the Philippines has strongly advocated the effective and early implementation of the agreement.

He recalled the active participation of the Philippines in the preparatory meetings for the first Conference of Parties to the BBNJ Agreement, including the Preparatory Committee Organizational Meeting in New York in June 2024 and the First Preparatory Commission in New York in March 2025, during which the Philippines actively called for the promotion of the principles of flexibility, transparency and inclusivity through genuine participation in the COP, especially of least developed countries and small island developing states.

The BBNJ Agreement is a legally binding document that would provide for effective mechanisms for establishing marine protected areas or a global coordination mechanism to assess the environmental impacts of activities like deep seabed mining and marine scientific research, in the high seas. It is the third implementing agreement of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Since its inception in 2011, the High Seas Alliance (HSA) has been working toward the protection of the high seas, which are considered the most biologically diverse and important but least protected and most critically threatened ecosystems in the world.

The HSA has emphasized the leadership roles of Asian countries in the BBNJ Agreement, particularly noting how the Philippines has “always been active in the negotiation of the Treaty and a champion of conservation in the region.”