The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes rules for the world’s oceans and serves as a key framework for governance in the Arctic. A related agreement, the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), aims to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in international waters. But rapid climate change and rising geopolitical tensions raise questions about how shifting regional dynamics will affect the implementation of UNCLOS and BBNJ.

Join the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative for a conversation with international law and conservation experts Commander Leah Cole, U.S. Coast Guard’s National Security Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School; Commander Elizabeth Hutton, U.S. Coast Guard Judge Advocate and military professor in the U.S. Naval War College's Stockton Center for International Law; and Dr. Virginie Tassin Campanella, founder and managing director of VTA Tassin, a pioneering public international law firm dedicated to oceans and seas. Arctic Initiative Senior Fellow Margaret Williams will moderate.