Rena Lee

She was included in the Leaders category of Time Magazine's 2024 list of the 100 most influential people for her chairing of successful final negotiations, leading to an agreed text for the first international agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) more simply known as the High Seas Treaty.

[6][7] She is a member of the Legal and Technical Commission of the International Seabed Authority and was Minister-Counsellor at the Hague Diplomatic Office of Singapore in the Netherlands.

The high seas, which cover almost half of the planet, start where the borders of countries’ exclusive economic zones, up to 200 nautical miles from coastlines and continental shelves, end.

[10] As recognition of her careful, firm diplomacy with representatives of 193 nations, Lee was included in the 2024 Time magazine list of the 100 most influential people.

[6][11] The treaty is seen as an important first step towards conserving 30 per cent of the world's land and sea by 2030, a goal set as part of 30 by 30 in December 2023.