Implementation of EIA in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction Under the UN BBNJ Agreement: Next Steps in EIA Guidelines

On April 27, 2021, more than 25 senior officials with expertise in international law and ocean policy, environmental management, and environmental impact assessment (EIA) met at the invitation of the Environmental Law Institute, based in Washington, D.C., to discuss challenges to the successful implementation of an EIA regime as proposed under the United Nation’s draft agreement for the protection of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the BBNJ treaty). This report identifies key challenges that face practitioners of EIA as the treaty moves beyond its initial development to the implementation stage of EIA practice in the high seas.