NEW YORK, 04 September 2018 – DFA Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Oceans Affairs Generoso Calonge affirms the Philippines’ strong support for a legally binding instrument in the nature of an implementing agreement under the UNCLOS, to fill in the gaps in the management and use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). He added that, “[a]s the common heritage of mankind, BBNJ should be sustainably managed and its benefits equitably shared by all stakeholders. This is in consonance with a rules-based approach in managing the world’s oceans and seas.” 

The first session of the first Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument 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 at UN Headquarters.