States Parties to United Nations Convention on Law of Sea Holds Thirty-Fourth Meeting at Headquarters, 10-14 June
NEW YORK, 14 June (Office of Legal Affairs) — The thirty-fourth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was held at Headquarters from 10 to 14 June. The background Press Release can be found at: https://press.un.org/en/2024/sea2195.doc.htm.
The Meeting elected Dunkan Laki Muhumuza (Uganda) as President, by acclamation. Diego Pary Rodríguez (Bolivia), Kevin Mead (Canada), Matúš Košuth (Slovakia) and Thi Mai Lien Vu (Viet Nam) were elected as Vice‑Presidents, also by acclamation.
The Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, Miguel de Serpa Soares, delivered remarks in commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention. The Legal Counsel invited delegations to celebrate the Convention as a testament to multilateralism and as evidence of the collective resolve to ensure the peaceful and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources for present and future generations.
Many delegations reaffirmed the Convention as setting out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out. Many delegations highlighted in this context the adoption and opening for signature of the Agreement under the Convention on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) as a historic achievement under the auspices of the framework instrument that is the Convention. In doing so, they expressed support for the upcoming organizational meeting of the Preparatory Commission. Many delegations expressed serious concern regarding the triple planetary crisis, especially climate-change-related sea-level rise, underscoring that the full and effective implementation of the Convention and related instruments was essential to address these challenges. The upcoming 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference to be held in Nice, France, was identified as a crucial opportunity to accelerate momentum towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 14, to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
The Meeting took note of the annual report of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for 2023, as well as the information reported by the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority and the Chairperson of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, on the activities of these bodies since the thirty-third Meeting of States Parties held in 2023.
In his capacity as one of the Co-Coordinators of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Conditions of Service of Members of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Sidney Kemble (Netherlands) delivered a report on its work since the thirty-third Meeting. The Meeting also appointed John Pangipita (United Republic of Tanzania) as the other Co-Coordinator of the Working Group on behalf of developing States, following the resignation of María Sande (Uruguay). The Meeting took note of the report of the Co-Coordinators and requested that the Working Group continue its work intersessionally to work on a proposal on a way forward and report back to the thirty-fifth Meeting of States Parties. The Meeting also requested that the Secretariat continue to support the Working Group.
The Meeting adopted a decision in which it approved the budget of the Tribunal for the period 2025–2026 in the amount of €26.734 million. In its consideration of administrative and budgetary matters of the Tribunal, among other things, the Meeting took note with satisfaction of the report on budgetary matters for the financial period 2023 and the report of the external auditor for the financial period 2023, and appointed the Audit Board of Indonesia as auditor for the financial years 2025-2028.
The Meeting conducted a by-election for vacancies in the Commission allocated to members of the Commission from Eastern European States, electing Artem Kireev (Russian Federation) for a term of office commencing on the date of the election and ending on 15 June 2028.
In the absence of other nominations, the Meeting decided in respect of the second vacant seat allocated to the Group of Eastern European States, which had remained unfilled since 2015, that, should the President of the Meeting receive information about potential candidates by 15 September 2024, a call for nominations would be circulated by the Secretary-General. A resumed session of the thirty‑fourth Meeting would then be convened to conduct a by-election before the next Meeting of States Parties, subject to approval by the General Assembly in the light of relevant financial implications. If no candidates were identified by that date, the Secretary-General would circulate a call for nominations with a view to conducting elections at the thirty-fifth Meeting of States Parties in 2025, if the President received information about potential candidates no less than 14 weeks prior to the commencement of that Meeting.
Under article 319 of the Convention, the Meeting considered the reports of the Secretary-General for the information of States Parties on issues of a general nature, relevant to States Parties, which had arisen with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (see A/78/339 and A/79/68). In their interventions, delegations expressed appreciation for the reports of the Secretary-General and the important work of the three bodies established under the Convention. Rwanda was welcomed as the newest State party to the Convention which, as of 17 June 2023, brought the total number of parties to 169, and the number of parties to the Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the Convention to 152.
Delegations further addressed a wide range of issues, including the role of the Convention in maintaining international peace and security, and ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources; protection and preservation of the marine environment, including the issue of plastic pollution and the negotiations underway in the International Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution including in the marine environment; impacts of climate change on the ocean, including sea-level rise, ocean warming and ocean acidification, and welcoming, in this context, the advisory opinion issued by the Tribunal on climate change and international law; the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law and the Convention; developments and issues related to the exploitation of mineral resources in the Area; maritime security and safety, including piracy and other crimes at sea; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects; marine scientific research; sustainable ocean economies; national and regional initiatives towards the sustainable development of the ocean and its resources, including in respect of sustainable food initiatives, towards long-term food security; progress in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Goal 14 and, in this context, the importance of the upcoming 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference; and the need for capacity-building, transfer of marine technology and cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination. Many delegations looked forward to the upcoming meeting of the United Nations Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, on the theme “The ocean as a source of sustainable food”. Many delegations addressed matters regarding the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, as well as issues concerning specific regions or ocean-related activities.
In his closing statement, the President encouraged States parties to further promote gender equality through representation in the Bureau, as well as in the process of nomination of members of the Commission and the Tribunal, for future elections.
A more detailed account of the proceedings of the thirty-fourth Meeting of States parties will be included in the report of the Meeting, to be issued in due course as document SPLOS/34/12.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was adopted on 10 December 1982 and entered into force on 16 November 1994. It sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out and is of strategic importance as the basis for national, regional and global action and cooperation in the marine sector.
For further information on the Meeting, including its documents, please see the website of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, at www.un.org/Depts/los/meeting_states_parties/meeting_states_parties.htm.