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From 1 to 5 December 2025, Addis Ababa will host a defining moment in the continent’s ocean diplomacy. The Regional Workshop on the BBNJ Agreement, convened through the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea in collaboration with UNECA and IUCN, is not simply another technical gathering. It is Africa’s opportunity to decide whether it will merely observe global ocean governance or actively shape it.
The BBNJ Agreement, adopted in 2023 after years of slow and complex negotiations, marks the most ambitious upgrade to international ocean governance since the establishment of UNCLOS. It introduces a modern framework for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, a space that covers almost half of the planet and yet remains largely unmanaged. For Africa, a continent whose food systems, economies, and climate resilience depend heavily on healthy oceans, this agreement is not an academic exercise. It is a matter of strategic survival and long-term prosperity.
Africa’s realities make the stakes unusually high. Coastal and island nations across the continent experience climate shocks, declining fish stocks, and increasing pressure on marine ecosystems. At the same time, the high seas present opportunities for scientific advancement, technological innovation, and more equitable participation in the global blue economy. The BBNJ Agreement provides the tools to claim that space. It establishes mechanisms for creating protected areas that can secure vulnerable ecosystems. It introduces environmental assessment processes that prevent harmful activities before damage occurs. It strengthens global commitments to capacity development and technology transfer, so African nations do not remain locked out of scientific discovery or emerging ocean industries. This agreement gives Africa both the legitimacy and the leverage it has lacked for too long.
The Addis Ababa workshop is designed to move the continent from general awareness to actual readiness. The first segment, led through DOALOS, will unpack the core provisions of the agreement and clarify what countries will be expected to implement. The second segment, facilitated through IUCN, goes deeper into operational realities through exploration of how area-based management tools can be designed, governed, and enforced, and how implementation can remain coherent across countries. With legal experts, policymakers, scientists, and conservation practitioners in the same room, the workshop strengthens Africa’s collective voice and ensures the continent does not approach BBNJ implementation in isolation or from a position of weakness.
This is where the continent must be candid with itself. For too many global treaties, Africa arrives late, participates minimally, and then struggles with implementation because the foundational work was never done. The high seas cannot become another missed opportunity. If Africa wants a fair share of benefits, real influence over governance decisions, and strong protection for its marine resources, then engagement must happen now with clear intent.
The high seas belong to no single nation, yet decisions made there will shape coastal futures everywhere. Strategic engagement in Addis Ababa strengthens Africa’s leadership, secures continental interests, and ensures the BBNJ Agreement becomes a tool for equity rather than another global instrument shaped without an African imprint.
Addis Ababa will not decide the entire future of the ocean. It will, however, reveal whether Africa is ready to claim its place in writing that future.
