Mr President,

On behalf of the European Union and its Member States, I would like to start by commending the UN Secretary-General and the Secretariat for their reports.

The European Union and its Member States have the honour to also address with this statement the agenda item on the commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention. This was a momentous event whereby the international community succeeded in delivering on the promise of establishing the foundation of the legal order governing the uses and resources of the oceans.

It is in this light that we reiterate our commitment, and the responsibility of all Parties, to promote and fully apply the provisions of the Convention and its implementing agreements. We call on all States to continue to maintain the integrity and universality of the Convention, to respect all its provisions, and to condemn any attempt to restrict, undermine, or disregard this unique instrument. We also recall, especially in view of current situations across the globe, that all maritime claims should be made and peacefully resolved in accordance with UNCLOS. We encourage further participation from all States and remain hopeful that we will achieve the goal of universal participation.

We reiterate that the Convention sets out the legal framework within which all activities in oceans and seas must be carried out. Since its adoption on 10 December 1982 and subsequent entry into force 30 years ago, it has rightly been considered the Constitution of the oceans, establishing a legal order for the seas and oceans with due regard for the sovereignty of all States. Its provisions generally reflect customary international law and are thus binding on all States. Its scope not only extends to the establishment of maritime areas and the rights and obligations that flow from them, reflecting a balance between coastal States and other States, but also takes into account the needs of landlocked States. It also enshrines the fundamental principles of the freedom of navigation and overflight, the rights of innocent and transit passage, and establishes the framework for the protection and preservation of the marine environment, and for marine scientific research.

All maritime claims should be made and peacefully resolved in accordance with UNCLOS. We want to stress that the European Union and its Members States remain strongly committed to promoting the peaceful resolution of disputes among States, as also recalled in this meeting by other speakers, including the Philippines.

More broadly, we call for all countries to observe the freedoms and rights mentioned earlier including the freedom of navigation and overflight and the rights of innocent and transit passage. It is also imperative that the sovereignty and sovereign rights of coastal States over their maritime zones, as established under the Convention, are respected, including those generated by islands.

Madam/Mister President,

As mentioned in the report of the UN Secretary-General, enhanced cooperation and coordination at the global, regional and subregional levels is urgently needed to address sustainability issues related to the Ocean, which is crucial to sustain livelihoods, and plays a major role in providing sustainable food and mitigate climate change. We must do more together to address challenges such as climate change and sea level rise, ocean warming, acidification, marine pollution, the over exploitation or unsustainable exploitation of a third of fish stocks and marine diversity decline.

We have a little more than 5 years to reach the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, and particularly its Sustainable Development Goal 14 “Life Below Water”. We need to step up our efforts now. For example, mainstreaming the SDGs, including the global nutrition targets (SDG 2) and the targets for life below water (SDG 14), in our aquatic food policies will help secure sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems, which, in turn, will contribute to achieving the SDGs.

The European Union and its Member States are taking part in this context in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14,^[1] the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea and the UN Fish Stocks Agreement Review Conference. Through our participation in these processes, we stress that urgent mitigation and adaptation action is paramount if we wish to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C. It is only in this way that the risks and impacts of climate change can be significantly reduced, including for the ocean. The European Union and its Member States further support the targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework, including target 3 to effectively conserve and manage at least 30% of coastal and marine areas, including areas within the high seas, by 2030.

We feel that it is also pertinent to point out that as the challenges that humanity and the ocean are facing become ever more apparent, so does the importance of adequate marine scientific research including ocean observation, to support decision-making. The global community must strengthen its efforts to achieve the necessary objectives and limit further delays or irreversible damage. For this reason, we strongly support the work and objectives of the UN Decade for Ocean Science.

It is equally important to note, also in view of next week’s Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea, that we must strengthen our efforts to make food systems, including food from the ocean, fair, healthy, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. The availability, abundance, and sustainability of ocean food is dependent on ongoing developments and major challenges (e.g., biodiversity loss, ocean degradation, climate change impacts etc.) as they set the context for our action and must be factored into our food policies.

Sustainable aquatic food systems have a vast potential in delivering healthy and nutritious food contributing to dietary improvements and meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Fisheries and certain types of aquaculture can highly contribute to this objective considering that their high biological diversity, the greater efficiency of their production systems and their lower greenhouse gas emissions and water footprint than terrestrial production systems place them at the forefront of food production with a low environmental and climate footmark. The Food and Agriculture Organisation refers to the fact that aquatic foods are more accessible to many vulnerable communities, while supporting the lives and livelihoods of those communities that depend on fisheries and aquaculture.

We are also looking forward to the UN Ocean Conference that will take place next year and we would like to commend the Costa Rican and French Governments for co-hosting the Conference. In addition, we would also like to praise Greece for hosting the Our Ocean Conference this year.

At the recent Our Ocean conference, the EU has made a record-breaking contribution of €3.5 billion, spread across 40 commitments for the ocean.

Madam/Mister President,

During 2023, the international community has demonstrated that collective efforts can result in the achievement of its goals for the protection of the ocean and the sustainable use of its marine resources.

In March 2023, the international community reached a milestone for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction with the political agreement on the text of the BBNJ Agreement. We would like to congratulate the President of the Intergovernmental Conference on BBNJ, Ambassador Rena Lee the Secretariat, States, and civil society for this historic achievement.

The European Union and its Member States would like to welcome once again the adoption of the Agreement and its opening for signature and stress the importance of its swift ratification, entry into force and effective implementation.

We would like to congratulate those States that have already ratified the Agreement.  The European Union and its Member States are committed to ratifying the BBNJ Agreement as soon as possible and urge others to do so too, as we reiterate the universal character of the Agreement.

The European Union has committed to support the BBNJ Agreement’s ratification and early implementation through the EU Global Ocean Program.

In conclusion, the European Union and its Member States want to reiterate once again their commitment to UNCLOS and its implementing agreements which provide the legal framework within which all activities in the ocean and seas must be carried out as highlighted in the report of the Secretary-General. 30 years since its entry into force, UNCLOS plays an integral role in the maintenance of peace, justice and progress for all peoples of the world.

Thank you, Mr President.

[1] Full title of the Conference: United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.