Oceans and Law of the Sea

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.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for International Day of the Seafarer, observed on 25 June:

The thirty-fourth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will be held at United Nations Headquarters from 10 to 14 June.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the occasion of UN World Oceans Day, observed on 8 June:

On 22 January, the Permanent Representative of Palau handed over to the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel Palau’s instrument of ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction at United Nations Headquarters. This is the first instrument of ratification for the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement that has been deposited.

NEW YORK, 22 January (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will hold its sixtieth session from 22 January to 8 March at United Nations Headquarters in New York. During the session, plenary meetings will be held from 29 January to 2 February and from 26 February to 1 March. The remainder of the session will be devoted to the technical examination of submissions by subcommissions in the Division premises, including geographic information systems laboratories and other technical facilities.

NEW YORK, 18 January 2024 (Office of Legal Affairs) — On 16 January 2024, principals of organizations participating in UN-Oceans endorsed a statement of commitments to strengthen and promote coordination and coherence of United Nations system activities in relation to the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).

The General Assembly decided today to convene a one-day high-level plenary meeting in late September to address the existential threats posed by sea-level rise.

Following naval interception by the United States and United Kingdom of a barrage of missiles and drones fired from Houthi-controlled territory into the Red Sea on 9 January, the Security Council today adopted a resolution demanding that the Houthis immediately cease all attacks on merchant and commercial vessels.