Rena Lee is the ambassador for Singapore Oceans and Law of the Sea issues, special envoy of the minister for foreign affairs, and ambassador for international law. She is also the chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), having taken over from Daren Tang. She was included in the Leaders category of Time Magazine's 2024 list of the 100 most influential people for her chairing of successful final negotiations, leading to an agreed text for the first international agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) more simply known as the High Seas Treaty. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Lee graduated with a master’s degree in law from the National University of Singapore in 1998. She joined the Singapore Ministry of Defence in 1992 and began her practice of international law. She joined the Bar in 1993 and the Singapore attorney general’s chambers in 2008. [6] [7] She is a member of the Legal and Technical Commission of the International Seabed Authority and was Minister-Counsellor at the Hague Diplomatic Office of Singapore in the Netherlands. [8] In 2020 Lee became the CEO of the Singapore Intellectual Property Office.
Lee was elected president of the UN Intergovernmental Conference on the High Seas Treaty or BBNJ agreement in 2018. Discussions had started in 2004 [9] with formal talks following for many years thereafter. The high seas, which cover almost half of the planet, start where the borders of countries’ exclusive economic zones, up to 200 nautical miles from coastlines and continental shelves, end. The high seas therefore do not fall under the jurisdiction of any country. [9]
The final negotiations of the High Seas treaty were lengthy but successful. [10] As recognition of her careful, firm diplomacy with representatives of 193 nations, Lee was included in the 2024 Time magazine list of the 100 most influential people. [6] [11] The treaty is seen as an important first step towards conserving 30 per cent of the world's land and sea by 2030, a goal set as part of 30 by 30 in December 2023. [9] [4] [12] [13]
The treaty was then adopted in June 2023 by the entire UN membership and now needs to be signed and ratified by member countries. If 60 countries ratify the treaty, it will become legally binding. [14]
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity ; the sustainable use of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. Its objective is to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and it is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is a Kingston, Jamaica-based intergovernmental body of 167 member states and the European Union established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its 1994 Agreement on Implementation. The ISA's dual mission is to authorize and control development of mineral related operations in the international seabed considered the "common heritage of all mankind" and also protect the ecosystem of the seabed, ocean floor and subsoil in "The Area" beyond national jurisdiction. The ISA is to safeguard the international deep sea, the waters below 200 meters or 656 feet, where photosynthesis is hampered by inadequate light. Governing approximately half of the total area of the world's oceans, the ISA is to exercise oversight of activities that might threaten biological diversity and harm the marine environment. The Authority operates as an autonomous international organization with its own Assembly, Council and Secretariat.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. As of May 2023, 168 countries and the European Union are parties.
Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private parties operating or using ocean-going ships. While each legal jurisdiction usually has its own legislation governing maritime matters, the international nature of the topic and the need for uniformity has, since 1900, led to considerable international maritime law developments, including numerous multilateral treaties.
The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands.
Law of the sea is a body of international law governing the rights and duties of states in maritime environments. It concerns matters such as navigational rights, sea mineral claims, and coastal waters jurisdiction.
Charlene Barshefsky served as United States Trade Representative, the country's top trade negotiator, from 1997 to 2001. She was the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 1993 to 1997. She is a partner at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. She is also an advisor at Moelis & Company and a participant of the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy convened by the Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations.
Tommy Koh Thong Bee is a Singaporean diplomat, lawyer, professor and author who served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations between 1968 and 1971.
The Arctic consists of land, internal waters, territorial seas, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and international waters above the Arctic Circle. All land, internal waters, territorial seas and EEZs in the Arctic are under the jurisdiction of one of the eight Arctic coastal states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. International law regulates this area as with other portions of Earth.
The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is legally defined geographic feature of the United States. The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the individual U.S. states.
Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, CCS was a Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant. He was High Commissioner to India and concurrently Ambassador to both Nepal and Afghanistan (1963–1967) and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and the Ministry of Health. Amerasinghe served as Ceylon's Permanent Representative to the United Nations 1967 to 1980 and served as President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1976. He was also one of the leaders of the negotiations to draft the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Pedra Branca dispute was a territorial dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over several islets at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait, namely Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge. The dispute began in 1979 and was largely resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2008, which opined that Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore and Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia. Sovereignty over South Ledge belongs to the state in the territorial waters of which it is located.
The United States was among the nations that participated in the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which took place from 1974 through 1982 and resulted in the international treaty known as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The United States also participated in the subsequent negotiations of modifications to the treaty from 1990 to 1994. The UNCLOS came into force in 1994. Although the United States now recognizes the UNCLOS as a codification of customary international law, it has not ratified it.
Common heritage of humanity is a principle of international law that holds the defined territorial areas and elements of humanity's common heritage should be held in trust for future generations and be protected from exploitation by individual nation states or corporations.
The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Law of the Government of Singapore. IPOS advises on and administers intellectual property (IP) laws, promotes IP awareness, and provides the infrastructure to facilitate the development of IP in Singapore.
High seas fisheries management refers to the governance and regulation of fishing activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction, often referred to as the 'high seas'.1 The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 1995 United Nations Fish Stock Agreement (UNFSA) provide the international legal framework for the regulation of fishing activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The United Nations Fish Stock Agreement delegates responsibility for conservation and management of fish stocks to regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) each governing a geographical area of the high seas.
Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean was a case at the International Court of Justice. In the case, Bolivia petitioned the Court for a writ of mandamus obligating Chile to negotiate with Bolivia to restore Bolivia's access to the Pacific Ocean, which it had lost to Chile in 1879 during the War of the Pacific. In 2018, the court rejected Bolivia's arguments, finding that Chile was under no such obligation.
Daren Tang Heng Shim is the fifth and current Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He is also Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). Tang previously headed the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and was a trade lawyer for the government of Singapore.
The United Nations Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement or BBNJ Agreement, also referred to by some stakeholders as the High Seas Treaty, is a legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. There is some controversy over the popularized name of the agreement. It is an agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The text was finalised during an intergovernmental conference at the UN on 4 March 2023 and adopted on 19 June 2023. Both states and regional economic integration organizations can become parties to the treaty.
Joanna Claire Mossop is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in the law of the sea, including conservation law, and laws outside national jurisdictions.