Tonga becomes the 85^th country to sign the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement to protect two-thirds of our ocean, or 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.

The Ambassador and representative of Tonga to the United Nations, HE Mr Va'inga Tone, signed the agreement on 26 January, in the presence of the officiating officer, Mr. David Nanopoulos, Chief of the Treaty Section, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs.

The BBNJ agreement sets up a procedure to establish large-scale marine protected areas in the high seas. This facilitates the achievement of the target to effectively conserve and manage 30% of land and sea by 2030, which was agreed in December 2022 within the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework .

The United Nations High Seas Treaty, also known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty or the BBNJ treaty, is a legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It was drafted on 4 March 2023, with signatories from 85 countries.