Japan seeks public views on guidelines for high seas environmental assessments

On 1 May, the Ministry of the Environment released a draft version of the “Guidelines for Conducting Environmental Impact Assessments in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (Draft)” as a domestic implementation measure for the United Nations Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). Public comments will be accepted until 31 May. The draft sets out procedures for assessing in advance the potential environmental impacts of activities conducted on the high seas and in the deep‑sea bed, including areas outside Japan’s jurisdiction.

The BBNJ Agreement was adopted in June 2023, formally titled the “Agreement 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”. It is hailed as a historic international accord to protect the biodiversity of the high seas and deep‑sea bed (areas beyond national jurisdiction), which have so far been covered only patchily by global regulations.

The backdrop is increasing international concern that the vast high seas and deep‑sea bed, which make up roughly two‑thirds of the planet’s oceans, have remained largely beyond the reach of regulation, allowing human activities such as climate change, marine pollution and unsustainable use to inflict serious damage on their ecosystems. The agreement aims to establish comprehensive rules for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, focusing on the utilisation and benefit‑sharing of marine genetic resources, the designation of marine protected areas, the conduct of environmental impact assessments, and capacity‑building and technology transfer for developing countries. It will enter into force 120 days after it has been ratified by 60 countries.

The draft guidelines now open for comment lay down concrete domestic procedures for carrying out the environmental impact assessments prescribed in Part IV of the BBNJ Agreement. Under these procedures, when Japanese operators plan to undertake activities on the high seas, they will be required to investigate, forecast and evaluate potential impacts on the marine environment at the planning stage, publish the findings and engage in consultations.

However, detailed matters such as the criteria for selecting specific activities subject to assessment and the scientific standards to be applied will be discussed and adopted by the Conference of the Parties (COP) once the BBNJ Agreement enters into force. The present draft seeks to ensure smooth domestic operation of the system while taking account of those forthcoming international decisions.

The Ministry intends to gather a wide range of views from the public on the draft, paving the way for the domestic preparations needed for Japan to ratify the agreement. The initiative is expected to enable Japan to contribute proactively to international ocean governance and to address the global challenge of conserving and sustainably using marine biodiversity.

Going forward, it is hoped that an effective system will be designed and operated in harmony with the international standards to be decided by the COP, so that activities by Japanese operators on the high seas can be conducted in a genuinely sustainable manner. For industry sectors involved in the use of marine resources, the reforms will also serve as an impetus to adapt to the new international rules and shift towards environmentally responsible business models.

Originally published on Circular Economy Hub.