The UN High Seas Treaty, also known as the Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), officially entered into force on 17 January 2026. The UK is committed to ratifying the Agreement as soon as possible and introduced legislation on 10 September to enable the UK to implement its obligations under the BBNJ Agreement and move towards ratification. The Bill received the Royal Assent, as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026, and passed into law on 12 February 2026 and the Act creates a domestic framework to meet the international obligations set out in the Treaty. A number of the BBNJ’s main provisions—including those on the collection, utilisation and benefits sharing of marine genetic resources and digital sequence information (DSI) from areas beyond national jurisdiction—are not yet in force. A number of the practical details and the commencement of these substantive provisions have been left to secondary legislation. This will need to be put in place before ratification can take place.

On 7 January 2026 the President of the United States announced his intention to withdraw the US from the International Framework on Climate Change Treaty, stating that the US “shall withdraw” from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), along with 65 other organisations, agencies and commissions that it deemed “contrary to the interests of the United States”. This is the first time any country has ever moved to exit the agreement. The UN climate body requires one year’s notice for withdrawal, so the United States will remain a party to the Convention until 6 January 2027.