Australia at the bbnj Negotiations and Its Potential Role in the Concluding Stages

This article examines the role of Australia in the negotiations towards an International Legally Binding Instrument (ilbi) for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (bbnj). As Australia was among the more influential players at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (unclos iii) and was instrumental in finding practical and effective compromise solutions, this article argues that Australia is ideally placed to take on a similar leadership role in the bbnj negotiations, particularly now that the process has reached its tail-end. This article revisits Australia’s significant contribution in the early phases of bbnj discussions and then traces Australia’s involvement and engagement with ilbi negotiations to date. This article also undertakes a historical analysis of Australia’s participation at unclos iii to outline the critical roles it played and to draw out certain lessons from that experience that may be relevant in the bbnj context.