Ocean-protection agreement 'BB and J' entered into force; UN expects more ratifications

David Nanopoulos highlighted the BB and J agreement on ocean protection as a major recent treaty development. He said, "Last year, at our treaty event, 21 states participated in the treaty event, and a lot of them took action on the BB and J agreement," and noted the agreement "entered into force" on 01/17/2026.

Nanopoulos explained that because BB and J is now an active treaty, the relevant steps for states are ratification and implementation rather than signature. He said there are currently 94 parties and that he expects "quite a number of new countries" to advance participation into implementation at upcoming meetings.