General Assembly

The General Assembly, following on the recommendations of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), funded 11 United Nations peacekeeping operations with a budget of $6.45 billion this evening.

LISBON, 28 June — Small island developing States stressed that international law, strong partnerships and honoured commitments chart the way to sustainable ocean management, calling for broader legal rules and demanding greater action from those responsible for increased pressure on marine ecosystems as high-level discussion continued in the historic maritime city.

LISBON, 28 June — Marine and coastal ecosystems are the most threatened in the world — a fact that must receive greater attention if Governments are going to successfully reverse pollution trends and restore the health of the world’s oceans, speakers in the third interactive dialogue taking place alongside the 2022 Ocean Conference stressed today, as they focused on solutions.

LISBON, June 28 — An historic World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement to end harmful fishing subsidies set the stage for participants in an interactive dialogue held alongside the 2022 Ocean Conference today to outline long overdue measures that would help small island developing States and least developed coastal nations reap the benefits of the estimated $2.5 trillion marine economy.

LISBON, 27 June — Exploring solutions to address marine pollution — from toxic chemical dumping and wastewater runoff to sewage emitted from ageing extractive industries — speakers called for urgent action to be taken even before the adoption of a global legally binding treaty to regulate plastic use, as the international conference on ocean conservation continued into an afternoon interactive dialogue.

LISBON, 27 June — The ocean must become a model on how to manage the global commons, world leaders heard today as they converged in Lisbon, where the Tagus River and the Atlantic meet, to take stock of multilateral efforts and looming challenges in the protection of the seas of the world.

While highlighting various ways to build inclusive societies and prevent atrocities, speakers stressed that the international community has failed to translate the responsibility to protect into reality, as the General Assembly concluded its first annual debate on the principle.

Concluding its 2022 substantive session today, the Special Committee on Decolonization approved 20 draft resolutions and decisions to be forwarded to the General Assembly for adoption.

Member States’ commitment to uphold the responsibility to protect its populations, in particular children and youth, from crimes of atrocity, must be centred in prevention in order to make the principle a living reality, speakers stressed, as the General Assembly today held its first annual debate on the topic.

The Special Committee on Decolonization today adopted a resolution requesting the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to consolidate the current process of dialogue through the resumption of negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute relating to the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).