Today, I speak on behalf of the Global ONCE UN Ocean Decade Program and all those dedicated to understanding and safeguarding our oceans, to honor the memory of Kristina Gjerde.
Kristina was a rare mind. Visionary, tenacious. A passionate advocate, a pioneer who pushed back the boundaries of international law and helped bring forth a framework that was once a mere dream: the governance of the high seas.
She was captivated by the silent, deep ocean and worked tirelessly to protect it from the perils of unregulated exploitation. Her rigor and foresight enabled her to reveal the immense importance of these global commons. At a time when the high seas were a legal vacuum, a fragmented and lawless expanse, she showed that they are central to planetary health, to biodiversity, and to the future of humanity. Among her many contributions, one can think of the High Seas Alliance, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, and her decades of work as the IUCN's High Seas Policy Advisor. She was the intellectual and diplomatic architect behind the BBNJ Agreement, a testament she nurtured from its earliest conceptual stages until its triumphant adoption.
But beyond her monumental policy contributions, those who had the chance to work alongside her remember a strategist full of wit, patience, and unwavering conviction. In her speeches and publications, one finds nods to the principles of equity and the rights of future generations. Kristina was, without a doubt, a force of nature.
Her passing leaves an immense void，and yet… a pioneer never truly disappears. The legal framework she traced, the Scientific diplomatic momentum she helped create, live on in the questions we ask today, in the treaties we ratify, and in the sense of responsibility inspired by the study and protection of the global ocean. Future generations of marine conservationists will continue, perhaps without knowing it, to walk in her footsteps.
As marine biologists, we see with clarity that Kristina's vision is being translated into action. Xiamen's bid to host the BBNJ Secretariat is a profound inheritance and amplification of her philosophy for marine ecological conservation. It is not only a tribute to her life's work but a critical step toward ensuring the sustainable development of our blue planet.
Today, we mourn her loss. But we also celebrate what she was: a brilliant legal mind with marine expertise, and a scientific diplomatic force, for an ocean that connects us all, and a shared future for human being.
Rest in peace, Kristina. The high seas will remember.
Nianzhi Jiao