Although the SDGs in principle cover the entire planet i.e. also the high seas and the deep seabed, they are of a politicay nature and not legally binding upon states.
The CBD, in turn, addresses the states and creates legally binding obligations for them as far as their respective area of jurisdiction is concerned. Hence, it does not produce effect outside the areas of national jurisdiction.
It was then intended to close the resultant gap by a legal instrument supplementing UNCLOS III and generating binding obligations regarding the preservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity outside areas of national jurisdiction. Otherwise quick to create acronyms for their projects, the world community at the time only came up with a somewhat unwieldy title for this new endeavour: Its target is addressed as an ILBI for BBNJ , which means an „International Legally Binding Instrument“ concerning „Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction“. After almost 10 years of preparation, an international conference had been launched in 2018 under the auspicies of the UN. On June 19, 2023, the Conference adopted by consensus the - as it was then baptized - "Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction" (A/CONF.232/2023/4). History and progress of the conference are documented on the UN-website https://www.un.org/bbnj/ . The activities under the Agreement since its adoption are retrievable under https://www.un.org/bbnjagreement/en. For a presentation of Andreas Kaede on the BBNJ topic, click here.