Oceans and Law of the Sea

NEW YORK, 23 August (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its fifty-eighth session at United Nations Headquarters, from 5 July to 22 August.

The General Assembly today adopted two resolutions — including one on entry into force of a previously adopted agreement on the oceans and conservation of biodiversity — while rejecting an amendment proposed by the Russian Federation that would have deleted three critical paragraphs of the text.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks at the United Nations Food Systems Summit+2 Stocktaking Moment, in Rome today:

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $8 million from the South Sudan Humanitarian Fund to help refugees and returnees from Sudan who are seeking shelter in South Sudan. The funds will help provide food, water, shelter and medical care to those affected by the ongoing violence.

5 July 2023 was the first day of the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf which met for the first time in its new composition resulting from elections held in 2022.

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will hold its fifty-eighth session from 5 July to 22 August 2023.

Over 200,000 people have fled the crisis in Sudan to seek refuge in Chad. United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has allocated $6 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to host communities in eastern Chad who need food and livelihood support.

Following yesterday’s landmark adoption of the historic new maritime biodiversity treaty, the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction concluded its work today, as delegates underscored the importance of the agreement’s swift implementation and rapid ratification and called for funding towards this end.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the intergovernmental conference on an international legally binding instrument 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, in New York today:

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process today said that he was deeply concerned by the Government of Israel’s decision on 18 June to alter settlement planning procedures that have been in place since 1996, which is expected to expedite settlement expansion.