ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Pollution
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1658332
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Marine Environmental Protection: Challenges, Solutions and Perspectives Volume IIView all 31 articles
On the provisions regarding access to and benefit-sharing of MGRs under the BBNJ Agreement: from the perspective of the concept of a maritime community with a shared future
Provisionally accepted
Chuanliang Wang*
Mengjie Zhao- Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The BBNJ Agreement represents a new development in the field of the law of the sea. In particular, the implementation of the provisions regarding access and benefit-sharing (hereinafter, ABS) of marine genetic resources (hereinafter, MGRs) under the BBNJ Agreement emerges as a pressing issue for contracting Parties. In the process of implementing the provisions, there arises a compelling need to reach a consensus and coordinate interests with the concept of a maritime community with a shared future (hereinafter, MCSF). The connotations of the concept of MCSF could be interpreted from three dimensions: community of maritime interests, community of maritime responsibilities and community of maritime developments. Furthermore, it also explores the practical significance of the concept of MCSF in the implementation of the provisions regarding ABS of MGRs, focusing on ownership disputes, access management, and benefit-sharing regime. As a responsible major power, China should take the concept of MCSF as a guide, providing Chinese solutions for the implementation of the provisions regarding the ABS of MGRs from both a macro-level of global marine governance and a micro-level of implementation.
Keywords: the BBNJ Agreement, marine genetic resources, access to and benefit-sharing, amaritime community with a shared future, implementation
Received: 02 Jul 2025; Accepted: 22 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chuanliang Wang, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.