Navigating the Blue Frontier: Legal Challenges to Marine Biodiversity Protection in the Gulf of Guinea Under the BBNJ Era

Abstract

Following the BBNJ Agreement entry into force on January 17, 2026, the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) has emerged as a critical theatre for testing new global legal standards for marine biodiversity protection. This article analyzes the legal friction between the emergent BBNJ framework and existing regional instruments, specifically the Abidjan Convention. The study explores how the 2026 implementation era creates unprecedented challenges for the Monist and Dualism legal systems of the GoG states, such as cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Sierra Leone who are among the early ratifiers of the BBNJ Agreement, in harmonizing national legislation with high seas obligations regarding Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). It highlights three primary legal challenges of implementing the BBNJ Agreement within the GoG, focusing on Jurisdictional overlaps, implementation gaps and institutional fragmentation.
By evaluating the 2025 Yaoundé Declaration, in which eight GoG nations pledged to sustainably manage 100% of their ocean areas by 2030, the article argues that the GoG requires a “Blue Hybrid” legal model. This model must integrate the BBNJ’s global standards with regional security protocols to ensure that marine biodiversity protection is not sidelined by immediate economic and security imperatives. The research concludes with a set of legislative recommendations for the GoG states to navigate in West Africa hinges on resolving the dualism-monist legal disparities that currently hinder treaty ratification and enforcement.