An interview with Mr. Bruno Pozzi, Deputy to the Secretary-General and Chef de Cabinet, International Seabed Authority
Kingston, Jamaica, 29 January 2026 – For decades, governance in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), including the high seas, has been fragmented. From shipping and fishing to seabed resource-related activities, different institutions regulate different uses of the ocean. This patchwork system has often led to gaps in oversight, limited coordination across sectors and weaker environmental safeguards for remote, difficult-to-monitor ecosystems that remain largely understudied due to the technological complexity and immense cost of research at these distances and depths.
The consequences are not abstract. Weak governance can translate into real economic and environmental costs, including degraded habitats and the ecosystem services they provide when healthy, as well as rising conflict between ocean-based sectors and growing risks for a blue economy, which has expanded significantly over the last three decades. According to the OECD’s Ocean Economy to 2050, the ocean economy doubled from USD 1.3 trillion in 1995 to USD 2.6 trillion in 2020, underscoring the importance of coordinated policy action to sustain long-term ocean prosperity.
At the same time, ocean governance and protection remain significantly underfunded relative to their global importance. This gap matters because effective governance depends on sustained investment in science and technology monitoring, compliance systems, institutional capacity and international cooperation. Nevertheless, progress has been made at both national and international levels, including through national ocean strategies, maritime spatial planning, ocean economy statistical accounts and multilateral negotiations aimed at strengthening ocean governance frameworks.
This is where the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the 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 (BBNJ Agreement) become central pillars of the global ocean governance architecture under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The ISA has the mandate to regulate mineral-related activities in the Area and to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects arising from such activities. At the same time, the BBNJ Agreement strengthens international cooperation to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity in ABNJ; both include tools such as marine protected areas, or as in the case of ISA, Areas of Particular Environmental Interest (APEIs), and environmental impact assessments.
Taken together, ISA and the BBNJ Agreement reflect a growing global recognition that ocean health is critical for long-term economic stability. Strong, coordinated ocean governance helps reduce uncertainty for ocean users, strengthens accountability, safeguards biodiversity and protects the natural capital that underpins a sustainable blue economy. In an era of rising ocean pressures, the cost of inaction is increasingly higher than the cost of investing in effective governance.
As part of ISA’s first “Ask an Expert” series, a new Q&A format designed to make the ISA’s complex policy and regulatory work accessible to a wider global audience through direct insights from its experts, we sat down with Mr. Bruno Pozzi, Deputy to the ISA Secretary-General and Chef de Cabinet. Given his vantage point at the centre of ISA’s executive management, and formerly the Deputy Director of UN Environment Programme’s Ecosystems Division, Mr. Pozzi sits in a unique position to assess how emerging legal instruments, institutional reforms and political dynamics are reshaping global ocean governance at a critical juncture. We asked him why he believes that 2026 is the year for consolidated ocean governance architecture.
1. The BBNJ Agreement entered into force on 17 January 2026. From your perspective as Deputy to the Secretary-General, why is this moment so significant for ocean governance?
The entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement on 17 January marks the culmination of nearly two decades of negotiations to address governance gaps in ABNJ. For the first time, the international community will have a comprehensive, legally binding framework covering marine genetic resources, area-based management tools, environmental impact assessments, capacity-building and transfer of technology. This can now combine with the already existing governance of the deep seabed through ISA to provide holistic and comprehensive governance for the entire water column from surface to sea floor. What makes 2026 particularly significant is not only the legal milestone but also the convergence of multiple governance processes. We see parallel developments across bodies established under the UNCLOS, regional organizations and environmental regimes. The challenge and the opportunity lie in ensuring coherence rather than fragmentation. For ISA, this moment underscores the importance of coordination, mutual respect for mandates and the practical implementation of the ‘not-undermining’ principle, so that strengthened biodiversity protection complements rather than constrains the orderly management of seabed resources as the common heritage of humankind.
2. How does your role as Chef de Cabinet, and your experience in diplomacy, shape your view on the need for institutional coordination in the year ahead?
From the perspective of executive management, coordination is no longer an abstract aspiration but an operational necessity. The ISA Secretariat must anticipate interactions between regimes, prepare internal processes accordingly and support Member States with clear, evidence-based analysis; particularly in these complex geopolitical times where both clarity and certainty are on short order. As Chef de Cabinet, I see the importance of aligning strategic planning, communication narratives and intergovernmental engagement so that ISA speaks with one voice. This includes strengthening inter-agency dialogue with bodies emerging under the BBNJ Agreement, as well as with established organizations such as the United Nations Environmental Programme and Regional Seas Conventions. Effective coordination also requires internal preparedness, ensuring that our legal, scientific and policy teams work in an integrated manner. A consolidated ocean governance architecture will only be credible if institutions are agile, transparent and capable of translating complex mandates into practical outcomes and demonstrable impact
3. Many observers refer to the risk of institutional overlap. How can ISA help turn that risk into an opportunity?
Overlap becomes problematic only when mandates are poorly understood or insufficiently respected. ISA has a clear and exclusive mandate under UNCLOS to organize and control mineral-related activities in the Area, with a strong obligation to protect the marine environment. BBNJ, just like ISA, is a product of UNCLOS, part of the same family. The opportunity lies in proactive engagement. By contributing scientific data, environmental expertise and regulatory experience, ISA can help inform broader ocean governance discussions while safeguarding its operational mandate. For example, in May 2025, ISA joined the Ocean Data and Information System (ODIS), coordinated by the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange of IOC-UNESCO, a global network that improves how ocean data are accessed, shared and discovered. This integration will make ISA’s DeepData platform, which hosts environmental and scientific information collected by exploration contractors, discoverable across ODIS’s interconnected systems. This marks a significant step towards developing an inclusive and interoperable digital ecosystem for ocean data. Moreover, through a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, ISA is advancing the Deep-Sea Biobank Initiative, a global repository of biological samples and genetic data from the international seabed area to support inclusive scientific research and capacity-building, particularly for developing States, but also for the BBJN Agreement. By contributing to scientific data and increasing transparency and access, ISA is positioning itself as a constructive partner and a guardian of legal certainty in ocean governance.
4. What internal adjustments will be most important for ISA as these external processes accelerate?
Internally, the ISA Secretariat must integrate BBNJ Agreement-related considerations into its work planning without losing sight of core deliverables, including the development of exploitation regulations and regional environmental management plans. This involves risk assessment, scenario planning and targeted capacity-building. It also means equipping staff to engage confidently with new bodies and processes, whether through technical input or policy dialogue. In November 2025, more than 40 representatives from nearly 30 ISA Member States and international organizations participated in a workshop on Interactions between the International Seabed Authority and BBNJ Agreement bodies and processes, which was co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Fiji, Jamaica, Malta and Singapore, in partnership with the ISA Secretariat. The discussions highlighted the importance of continuing these kinds of dialogues as the international community implements the BBNJ Agreement while safeguarding the integrity of the ISA’s mandate. Clear internal coordination mechanisms are essential, as is consistent reporting to the Council and Assembly. In short, institutional resilience will be key.
5. Looking ahead, what would success in 2026 look like from your perspective?
In the past year, ISA Members have taken significant steps toward achieving their priorities—advancing standards and guidelines, strengthening environmental baseline requirements, expanding access to scientific data, initiating steps to operationalize an Economic and Planning Commission, building a benefit sharing mechanism—Common Heritage Fund—and reaffirming the precautionary approach as a cornerstone of decision-making. These efforts matter because rules are not simply procedural tools. They are safeguards: against ecological harm, against inequity, against fragmentation of international law.
There will then be no race to the bottom, but a balanced, science and knowledge-based framework grounded in consensus. The prevailing view is unmistakable: the Mining Code must be completed within the multilateral framework and is a prerequisite for any future commercial activities in the Area. So, first, making real progress here. Second, if by the end of 2026, we see constructive engagement between ISA and BBNJ bodies, informed decision-making grounded in science and Member States confident that their rights and obligations are respected, then we will have taken a meaningful step towards consolidated ocean governance architecture. Success would mean that ISA continues to discharge its mandate effectively while being recognized as a credible and cooperative actor within a more integrated ocean governance architecture.
Deputy to the Secretary-General and Chef de Cabinet, Bruno Pozzi, joined ISA in March 2025, bringing more than 25 years of diplomatic, policy and institutional leadership experience. A seasoned international civil servant and diplomat, he has held senior roles across three continents, working at the intersection of political affairs, environmental governance and economic policy. Before joining ISA, Bruno served as Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division at the United Nations Environment Programme, where he was closely engaged in multilateral environmental processes, inter-agency coordination and the science-policy interface. Now, as Chef de Cabinet and Deputy to the ISA Secretary-General, Bruno oversees strategic policy and planning, institutional development, capacity-building, communications and resource mobilization, while supporting the Secretary-General in advancing ISA’s mandate.
Ask an Expert
“Ask an Expert” is a biweekly Q&A series designed to bridge the gap between the ISA’s complex regulatory work and the global public. The series draws on expertise across five offices of the International Seabed Authority to break down the concept of the common heritage of humankind into clear and accessible insights. Each edition features an expert answering five high-impact questions to transform technical policy and legal debates into real-world examples that illuminate the future of the oceans, green technology and international equity.
International Seabed Authority
The International Seabed Authority is an autonomous international organization established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The International Seabed Authority is responsible for regulating mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond national jurisdiction. It has a mandate to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects arising from such activities.
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ISA Communications Unit, news@isa.org.jm
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