COBRA Webinar Series: Biodiscovery and the BBNJ Agreement: History, Progress and Prospects

Dr. Muriel Rabone (Natural History Museum, London), Dr. Robert Blasiak (Stockholm University), and Erik Zhivkoplias (Stockholm University)

Marine biodiscovery—the exploration of marine organisms for genetic and biochemical innovations—holds immense potential for addressing critical public health and environmental challenges, from novel disease treatments to bioremediation. However, the true scale of commercial use and the specific origins of these marine resources have largely remained opaque. The entry-into-force of the BBNJ Agreement in January 2026 represents a milestone in efforts to bring transparency and address the fair, equitable and sustainable use of marine genetic resources from areas beyond national jurisdiction. In this webinar, we will provide historical context to this Agreement, and introduce the MABPAT database (a novel resource for understanding the scope and scale of marine biodiscovery), and initial discussions on the BBNJ standardised batch identifier to operationalise components of the BBNJ Agreement focused on marine genetic resources.