AS the build-up to this year’s United Nations Oceans Conference (UNOC) in Nice, France continues, there is a degree of optimism that Fiji will join other Pacific Island nations that have ratified the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, which is also known as the High Seas Treaty.
Last week, France’s ambassador to the Pacific Véronique Roger-Lacan was in Fiji to meet national and regional leaders ahead of the UNOC in June. Co-hosted and co-chaired by the governments of France and Costa Rica, Ms Roger-Lacan told The Fiji Times that while there is the normal UN agenda to be carried out, the co-chairs also have their priorities. She said France’s priorities at the UNOC were threefold. The BBNJ Treaty – the legislative focus.
