Kristina GJERDE

Kristina M. Gjerde, J.D., is Senior High Seas Advisor to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Ocean Team and an honorary professor at the University of Edinburgh. 

For more than 30 years, Kristina has worked on the progressive development of public international law relating to the marine environment.  Since 2003, Kristina’s primary focus with IUCN has been promoting a United Nations Agreement to protect, conserve and sustain ocean life beyond national boundaries. The United Nations Agreement on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) was formally adopted on June 19, 2023. 

To advance understanding of and support for improved governance of BBNJ, Kristina has authored or co-authored more than 200 publications and co-founded four initiatives: Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative, Sargasso Sea Project, High Seas Alliance, and Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI). She sits on the advisory board of the Schmidt Ocean Institute, and was previously part of the Executive Planning Group for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. 

A graduate of New York University School of Law, in 2003 Kristina was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation to support her work on high seas governance reform.  In 2023, Kristina received the IUCN World Commission on Protected Area’s Fred Packard Award and in 2024 Kristina was honored with the Elisabeth Haub Award for Environmental Law and Diplomacy for her instrumental role in the 2023 UN Agreement on Biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.