PRESS RELEASE : The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is a major achievement of diplomacy and international law-making – UK statement at the UN General Assembly [December 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 December 2023.

Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN General Assembly meeting on the Law of the Sea.

Mr President, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, is a major achievement of diplomacy and international law-making. It is critical to the rules-based international system. Its provisions apply to 70% of the surface of the globe and form an essential component of global governance.

UNCLOS has made a significant contribution to global peace, prosperity and security by providing consistency and certainty concerning the governance of the ocean. It provides the legal framework for all activities in the ocean and seas.

UNCLOS sets out the legal framework for maritime claims and the rules of freedom of navigation. It sets out obligations for bilateral, regional and international cooperation, including for the conservation and management of living resources, for the protection and preservation of the maritime environment, and for the peaceful settlement of disputes. This legal framework applies in the South China Sea as it also applies across the rest of the world’s oceans and seas.

This year, we welcomed the adoption of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement. This Agreement is the third implementing agreement under the Convention and is historic for biodiversity. We support its entry into force as soon as possible. The BBNJ agreement will mean much greater protection for the two-thirds of the global ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction. It will play a key role in supporting the delivery of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It is critical that we work toward upholding the commitments in the GBF to help achieve the target to effectively conserve and manage at least 30% of the ocean by 2030.

We take this opportunity to reinforce the critical role that both the BBNJ Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework have in relation to the topics covered by both the resolutions Oceans and Law of the Sea and Sustainable Fisheries.

I thank you.