{"id":106058,"date":"2022-08-16T09:41:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T13:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=106058"},"modified":"2022-08-16T14:27:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T18:27:35","slug":"conference-aims-to-conclude-first-ever-treaty-on-oceans-biological-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2022\/08\/conference-aims-to-conclude-first-ever-treaty-on-oceans-biological-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference aims to conclude first-ever treaty on ocean\u2019s biodiversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK, 15 August \u2013 The intergovernmental conference to draft the first-ever treaty on the ocean\u2019s biological diversity opened its fifth and likely final session today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amidst calls for flexibility, openness and the spirit of compromise that prevailed in 1982, when the landmark \u201cconstitution for the oceans\u201d was adopted, the new treaty will aim to address the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas of the ocean which are beyond the limits of States’ maritime zones.<\/p>\n

The session, which runs until 26 August, was convened following a\u00a0decision<\/a>\u00a0taken by the General Assembly in May and is\u00a0expected to be the final in a series set in motion since 2018 to draft an international legally binding instrument\u00a0<\/strong>under the 1982 UN\u00a0Convention on the Law of the Sea<\/a>\u00a0on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas\u00a0beyond<\/a>\u00a0national jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Revised anchors negotiations<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI am hopeful that we can make real progress in these two weeks, with the aim of finalizing the agreement as soon as possible,\u201d said Intergovernmental Conference President Rena Lee, rallying delegates to roll up their sleeves as they delve into the technical and legal details.<\/p>\n

Recalling that the four previous sessions were mandated by resolution 72\/249, of 24 December 2017, she said that negotiations are to address marine genetic resources, including questions on benefit-sharing, measures such as area-based management tools, environmental impact assessments, capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology.<\/p>\n

Having studied all proposals made since the fourth session, she prepared a further\u00a0revised draft<\/a>\u00a0of an agreement.<\/p>\n

Ms. Lee said that delegates were also asked to submit textual proposals for the fifth session, noting that an article-by-article compilation was issued in early August.<\/p>\n

Informal background documents that were provided to delegations included two that had been requested on resource requirements, should the\u00a0UN Division<\/a>\u00a0for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea be designated as Secretariat under the agreement, and another on global ocean financing.<\/p>\n

The goal: Universal participation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Noting calls for the conclusion of the\u00a0Intergovernmental Conference<\/a>\u00a0this year, she urged Member States to \u201csqueeze our creative juices to find solutions that can garner consensus\u201d and to exercise utmost flexibility to find the consensus needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us strive to deliver on an agreement that will be fair, balanced, implementable<\/strong>\u00a0and which will attract universal participation,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cLet us not let the perfect be the enemy of good\u201d.<\/p>\n

UN Legal Counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares \u2013 who also heads the Organization\u2019s Legal Affairs department and serves as Secretary-General of the Intergovernmental Conference \u2013 welcomed delegates to the \u201ccritical\u201d fifth session taking place on the heels of the\u00a0Ocean Conference<\/a>\u00a0in Lisbon, Portugal.<\/p>\n

During the summit \u2013\u00a0held from 27 June to 1 July<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 stakeholders aimed to reverse the deteriorating health, resilience and productivity of the ocean and its resources.<\/p>\n

Making good on Lisbon pledges<\/strong><\/p>\n

The senior UN official expressed hope that the hundreds of commitments made in Lisbon will quickly translate into action, including the many calls for the Intergovernmental Conference to promptly conclude its work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat better way to signal our determination to act, than finalizing a robust agreement that ensures the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in the largest spaces of the ocean,\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

A new member of the family<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this critical stage, the UN Legal Counsel upheld that it is time to show the true spirit of multilateral cooperation.<\/p>\n

He expressed hope that delegates will exercise even greater flexibility to ensure the ocean \u201cgets what it urgently needs\u201d and not let marine biodiversity collapse on their watch.<\/p>\n

In closing, Mr. Soares also expressed his wish to welcome a new agreement into \u201cthe law of the sea family\u201d later this year, when the world celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the Law of the Sea Convention.<\/p>\n

Source: UN News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK, 15 August \u2013 The intergovernmental conference to draft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":363,"featured_media":106060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7511,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-life-below-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}