United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994. It lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order for the world's oceans, establishing rules for the allocation of States' rights and jurisdiction in maritime spaces, the peaceful use of the oceans and the management of their resources. The Convention also provides a framework for the further development of specific areas of the law of the sea, including through the work of competent international organizations such as IMO. The regime originally laid down in the Convention has since been expanded through the following instruments, to accommodate the priorities of States and fill in gaps in the regulatory framework:

  • the Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
  • the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (UN Fish Stocks Agreement)
  • 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 Agreement). Further information on the BBNJ Agreement is provided below

The Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) of the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations serves as the Secretariat of the Convention,  and provides information, advice and assistance to States with a view to providing a better understanding of the Convention and the related Agreements, their wider acceptance, uniform and consistent application and effective implementation.  The Division monitors all developments relating to the Convention, the law of the sea and ocean affairs and reports annually to the General Assembly of the United Nations on those developments. It also assists the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea in reviewing such developments.

 

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 United Nations General Assembly decided, in 2015, to develop an international legally binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (UNGA resolution 69/292). Following extensive preparatory work, textual negotiations on the Agreement were held from 2018 to 2023 over five substantive sessions (including a resumed fifth session) at the UN Headquarters in New York, under the leadership of Ms. Rena Lee (Singapore), leading to the adoption of the Agreement on 19 June 2023. At present the Agreement has been ratified by 51 Parties, and will enter into force 120 days after the deposit of the 60th instrument of ratification. 


Read the latest  on the BBNJ website here: https://www.un.org/bbnjagreement/en

Consistent with the topics identified in the package agreed in 2011, the BBNJ Agreement sets up a comprehensive framework for the conservation and sustainable use of BBNJ with respect to the following areas:

  1. Marine Genetic Resources (MGR), including the fair and equitable sharing of benefits (Part II);
  2. Measures such as Area-Based Management Tools (ABMT), including marine protected areas (MPAs) (Part III);
  3. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) (Part IV); and
  4. Capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology (CB&TMT) (Part V).

The IMO Secretariat, represented by staff from the Marine Environment Division (MED) and Legal Affairs and External Relations Division (LED), took an active part in the negotiations during the sessions of the BBNJ Conference, to ensure that IMO will play an important role in the implementation of the BBNJ Agreement and that the new instrument will not negatively impact IMO's existing mandate and framework.

IMO actively cooperates with the UN, in particular with DOALOS, with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and with other UN specialized agencies (i.e. FAO, UNESCO-IOC and ILO) on matters of common interest. The IMO Secretariat has and continues to engage with IMO Member States on BBNJ-related matters through the regular reporting of developments to the IMO Council (under its agenda item on Relations with the UN) and the relevant Committees. The reporting includes information about participation in periodic briefings and the current preparatory work for the entry into force of the Agreement. Several information sessions on BBNJ were also held at the IMO Headquarters. The first information session held on 21 June 2019 was participated in by Ms. Rena Lee, President of the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference, and Mr.  Michael Lodge (former Secretary-General, ISA), and the industry represented by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).  A second information session was held on 27 January 2020 with presentations by IMO officers on each of the BBNJ focus areas. The sessions were each attended by large numbers of Member State and NGO delegations.