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Negotiating the Ocean

Negotiating the Ocean

By: ANCORS
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 Negotiating the Ocean, an Ocean Equity podcast by ANCORS, peeks below the surface of international ocean governance. We take you behind the scenes of global talks on biodiversity, fisheries and deep-sea mining and ask the big questions around equity and social justice. This podcast enables a more inclusive understanding for those who can’t attend international meetings and provides vital information for new diplomats, NGOs and ocean researchers. This is your audio guide to navigate these high seas negotiations, brought to you by the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security.ANCORS Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • 1 ) Setting Sail: Negotiating the Treaty

    1 ) Setting Sail: Negotiating the Treaty
    Feb 24 2026
    About the podcast mini-seriesThis four-part podcast mini-series explores the governance of marine genetic resources (MGRs) under the BBNJ Agreement, moving beyond implementation challenges to unpack the treaty’s groundbreaking provisions for areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). Drawing on insights from legal experts, scientists, treaty negotiators, Indigenous knowledge holders, policymakers, and commercial users, the series highlights diverse perspectives on equity, data governance, intellectual property, and institutional design. Episode 1 introduces how MGRs became a central and contested issue in the BBNJ Agreement negotiations. It explains the key political compromises reached, the balance between access and benefit-sharing, and why these provisions are pivotal for the Agreement’s implementation.GuestsLuciana Fernandes Coelho, international consultant in law of the sea and ocean governance and Visiting Fellow of the Ocean Voices Programme, University of Edinburgh, UK. She holds a PhD in Maritime Affairs from the World Maritime University. She has experience as a Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environmental Institute, Programme Coordinator for the DOALOS/Norad Programmes of Assistance, and advocacy analyst for Oceana, Brazil. She served as legal adviser for DOSI and the Brazilian delegations in the BBNJ negotiations.Daniel Kachelriess is an expert on oceans, fisheries, wildlife law and policy and followed the negotiations of the BBNJ Agreement as part of the High Seas Alliance and as a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. He serves as High Seas Alliance cross-cutting coordinator. His previous roles include Executive Director of a non-profit law firm, and the Marine Species Officer of the CITES Secretariat.Konrad Marciniak is a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. He represented Poland in numerous international fora and was closely involved in all stages of the negotiations of the BBNJ Agreement, serving as Head of the Polish delegation, member of the EU negotiating team on marine genetic resources, and member of the IGC Bureau. He holds a Ph.D. on the legal status of marine genetic resources.Joan Yang has been working on UN and Multilateral oceans issues since 2006 - which has included following the BBNJ process in all its iterations since 2006 and through the IGC she served as the PSIDS coordinator on cross-cutting issues. Joan was also part of the Pacific team which secured the SDG on the Ocean as well as the KMGBF, including target 3. She is currently an advisor to the Vanuatu Mission in the UN who is the PSIDS coordinator on the Clearinghouse Mechanism.Tamara Thomas is Executive Director of Ocean Ties and Ocean Advisor to the IUCN, with over 15 years of experience across major ocean and climate fora, including the CBD, the UNFCCC, and the BBNJ process. She has previously served as Director of International Ocean Policy at Conservation International, Ocean Policy Advisor at The Nature Conservancy, and Advisor to the Chair of the UN Preparatory Committee for BBNJ.Co-producers:Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki - Postdoctoral research Fellow, ANCORSJennifer Macey - Journalist & PhD Candidate, University of WollongongFran Humphries - Associate Professor in Environmental Law, Griffith University Law School Amelia Westmoreland - Chemist and Market Researcher at 3BioMarcel Jaspars - Professor of Chemistry, University of AberdeenAbbe Brown - Professor in Intellectual Property Law, University of Aberdeen Editing: Bettina Otterbeck - Freelance Video EditorCommunications:Sunnefa Yeatman - PhD Candidate, ANCORSFurther readingHumphries, F. (2025). Decoding Marine Genetic Resource Governance Under the BBNJ Agreement (1st ed. 2025.). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. Chapter 1 Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4BBNJ Agreement Text & Official BBNJ Website
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Episode 13 - Capacity Building and the Transfer of Marine Technology

    Episode 13 - Capacity Building and the Transfer of Marine Technology
    Feb 6 2026
    A new Ocean Agreement has entered into force to conserve and sustainably use the ocean globally. Given the imbalance of scientific, technical and financial capacity across countries to use the world’s ocean, conduct marine scientific research in the deep sea and engage in maritime activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction, the new agreement seeks to change the status quo. With a dedicated part on Capacity building and the Transfer of Marine Technology, the imbalance is supposed to be addressed, and global implementation of the agreement’s objectives be facilitated.What falls under Capacity building in the context of the BBNJ Agreement?What is meant by the transfer of marine technology?How is this part crucial for the implementation of the new treaty?We hear from different “Ocean Voices” from Fellows of the Ocean Voices Program of the University of Edinburgh and dive deep into their different research and ocean equity aspects in the framework of the BBNJ Agreement. Guests: Harriet Harden-Davies Julia Schuetz-Veiga*Renee LewinilovoBenit MbiakoloBeatriz Naranjo ElizondoMaila GuilhonHosts: ⁠Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki⁠ & ⁠Jennifer Macey⁠ Sound design and editing: ⁠⁠Emily Perkins⁠⁠Communication: ⁠Sunnefa Yeatman⁠For comments & feedback please contact: ⁠inatvw@uow.edu.au⁠ Find out more:ANCORS Ocean Equity page ⁠https://oceanequityresearch.org/⁠ANCORS at the University of Wollongong ⁠https://www.uow.edu.au/ancors/⁠Ocean Voices Program: https://ocean-voices.ed.ac.uk/ You can find capacity building initiatives and technical assistance for the BBNJ process on the United Nations Website: https://www.un.org/bbnjagreement/en/capacity-building-and-technical-assistance/overview Read on Capacity Building and the Transfer of Marine TechnologyEtuk Johnson, A., Harden-Davies, H. (2025). Capacity Building and Transfer of Marine Technology under the BBNJ Agreement: Key considerations for SIDS. Report for the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong. https://oceanequityresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Arianne-Etuk_Capacity-Building-and-Transfer-of-Marine-Technology-under-the-BBNJ-Agreement.pdfHarden-Davies, H., Lopes, V.F., Coelho, L.F. et al. First to finish, what comes next? Putting Capacity Building and the Transfer of Marine Technology under the BBNJ Agreement into practice. npj Ocean Sustain 3, 3 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-023-00039-1Tessnow-von Wysocki, I., Bateh, F., Gobin, J., Harden-Davies, H., Kyeremeh, K., & Schutz-Veiga, J. (2024). Next steps to implement the BBNJ Agreement through capacity building and technology transfer. Maripoldata. https://www.maripoldata.eu/next-steps-to-implement-the-bbnj-agreement-through-capacity-building-andtechnology-transfer/Johannes, R. E. (1981). Words of the lagoon: fishingand marine lore in the Palau district of Micronesia. Univ of California Press. Know more & Research of the Ocean Voices FellowsCosta Rica Desconocida: https://costaricadesconocida.com/Guilhon, M, Xavier, LY, von Pogrell, L, Singh, P,Christiansen, S & Turra, A 2023, ‘Ecosystem-based Management through thelenses of International Seabed Authority stakeholders: current status,implications, and opportunities for the deep-sea mining regime in theArea’, Frontiers in Marine Science, vol. 10. Naranjo-Elizondo, B & Cortés, J 2018, ‘Observations ofLitter Deposited in the Deep Waters of Isla del Coco National Park, EasternTropical Pacific’, Frontiers in Marine Science, vol. 5.Harden-Davies, Harriet, and Júlia Schütz Veiga, 'PartV: Capacity-Building and the Transfer of Marine Technology', in Joanna Mossop, and David Freestone (eds), The Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Commentary and Analysis (2025; online edn, Oxford Law , https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198918578.003.0008, Meet Renee Lewenilovo Meet Benit Mbiakolo * Julia Schuetz-Veiga is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Ocean Voices Program
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Episode 12 - Ocean Cooperation: BBNJ & other IFBs

    Episode 12 - Ocean Cooperation: BBNJ & other IFBs
    Nov 1 2025
    Episode 12 - Ocean Cooperation: BBNJ & other IFBsWhen the new BBNJ Agreement was adopted, it entered a crowded space of already existing Instruments, Frameworks and Bodies (IFBs) in ocean governance.What do other organisations think of BBNJ - and where are overlaps?Which lessons can be learned from cooperation in a shared ocean?How would ideal cooperation look like?In this episode we talk to 4 Secretariats of those IFBs:One regional fisheries management organisation (North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, NEAFC); one regional conservation organisation (OSPAR); the International Seabed Authority (ISA); and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).Guests: Darius Campbell, the Executive Secretary of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) Dominic Pattinson, the former Executive Secretary of the OSPAR CommissionBruno Pozzi, the Deputy Secretary General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA)Joe Appiott, the coordinator for marine, coastal and island biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)Hosts: ⁠Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki⁠ & Bianca Haas & ⁠Jennifer Macey⁠Sound design and editing: ⁠⁠Emily Perkins⁠⁠Communication: ⁠Sunnefa Yeatman⁠For comments & feedback please contact: ⁠inatvw@uow.edu.au⁠ Find out more:ANCORS Ocean Equity page ⁠https://oceanequityresearch.org/⁠ANCORS at the University of Wollongong https://www.uow.edu.au/ancors/⁠Official documents in preparation for the Entry into Force of the BBNJ Agreement on the United Nations WebsiteBBNJ: ⁠https://www.un.org/bbnjagreement/en⁠North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission: ⁠https://www.neafc.org/⁠ OSPAR: ⁠https://www.ospar.org/⁠International Seabed Authority (ISA): ⁠https://isa.org.jm/⁠ Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): ⁠https://www.cbd.int/⁠ Further Materials & SourcesOSPAR Decision 2021/01 on the establishment of the North Atlantic Current and Evlanov Sea basin Marine Protected Area ⁠https://www.ospar.org/documents?v=46308⁠ Collective arrangement between competent international organisations on cooperation and coordination regarding selected areas in areas beyond national jurisdiction in the North‐East Atlantic: ⁠https://www.ospar.org/documents?v=33030⁠
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    48 mins
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