Nobody lists the foundations when they describe their home, but nothing stands without them.
Across the Pacific, we see the villages, the homes, the community halls and the gatherings around the tanoa. Beneath all of it lies the ocean. Culture, identity and sustenance all rest on it. It is the fish on the table, the route between islands, but most importantly it is the story of where people come from.
When global leaders gathered in the Pacific earlier this month for Pre-COP31, the conversation focused on keeping 1.5°C within reach, improving access to climate finance and amplifying Pacific voices and leadership.
The other area of focus: elevating the oceans agenda.
What now sits on that agenda is changing, thanks in part to the entry into force this year of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement.
Governments and partners are asking how the ocean is governed, managed and protected both within and beyond national jurisdiction. And while climate negotiations often focus on emissions and adaptation, Pacific leaders recognise the future of ocean governance as critical to sustaining the resilience, prosperity and security of the Blue Pacific.
Much of the discussion around BBNJ has focused on marine protected areas, environmental impact assessments and the protection of biodiversity in the high seas. But viewing the agreement solely through a conservation lens risks missing a broader story about the future of governance for our oceans.
The agreement therefore represents more than a conservation initiative. It is an attempt to strengthen collective stewardship of the world’s largest shared domain.
For the Pacific, few examples illustrate this more clearly than tuna. The Western and Central Pacific Ocean supplies more than half of the world’s tuna catch, making the region central to global fisheries and food systems. For many Pacific Island countries, tuna supports government revenue, employment and national development priorities.
Through the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, the Forum Fisheries Agency and regional fisheries management arrangements, Pacific countries have demonstrated that cooperation can strengthen stewardship, improve management and increase the value derived from shared marine resources.
BBNJ does not replace these arrangements, but it should learn from them.
As discussions advance on area-based management tools and future marine protected areas beyond national jurisdiction, attention is turning towards practical questions of monitoring, compliance and oversight. How will activities in such areas be monitored? Who is responsible for reporting violations? What information-sharing arrangements will be required? Which states have jurisdiction to act when rules are breached? These are fundamentally governance questions, but they also carry important security dimensions.
The relationship between BBNJ and security is often assumed rather than explained. The agreement is frequently discussed alongside concerns about illegal fishing, maritime crime and growing competition over ocean resources. Yet BBNJ is not primarily a security instrument. Its significance lies in strengthening the governance conditions that support maritime security through greater transparency, cooperation and collective oversight of activities beyond national jurisdiction.
As geopolitical interest in the ocean intensifies, the connection between governance and security will matter more. Competition over marine resources, ocean science, emerging technologies and strategic influence is already shaping how the ocean is governed. Against this backdrop, the agreement reinforces cooperative approaches to a vast global commons, providing shared rules and expectations at a time when demands on the ocean are testing existing arrangements.
For Pacific Island Countries, these implementation challenges are familiar. The region has long confronted the practical realities of governing vast maritime spaces with limited resources. Yet it is also precisely this experience that gives the Pacific a valuable voice in shaping how BBNJ evolves.
Pre-COP31 sent a strong signal that oceans must be front and centre at COP31. Pacific leaders and partners delivered a resounding call that climate action cannot be separated from ocean action, given the ocean’s critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate and sustaining Pacific communities.
A major outcome was Türkiye’s commitment to work towards an Antalya Ocean Declaration at COP31. The declaration is expected to strengthen recognition of the ocean-climate nexus and support greater action on ocean-based climate solutions, reflecting a key Pacific priority.
Foundations rarely make the news, until they crack. BBNJ is an attempt to reinforce one before it does.
For the Pacific, the next step is practical: ratification, readiness, and the monitoring and data systems that turn shared rules into shared oversight.
UNDP stands ready to support Pacific countries on that journey, from ratification and readiness to accessing finance for implementation, working alongside the Forum Fisheries Agency, regional partners and the Global Environment Facility.
The region has spent decades proving that cooperation can govern a vast ocean. That experience should shape how BBNJ works in practice.
