UNCLOS

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty which was adopted and signed in 1982. It replaced the four Geneva Conventions of April, 1958, which respectively concerned the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the high seas, fishing and conservation of living resources on the high seas.

The Convention has created three new institutions on the international scene :

– the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,

– the International Seabed Authority,

– the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

IUCN and UNCLOS

The Convention has become the legal framework for marine and maritime activities and IUCN with its partners are working towards an implementing agreement (UNCLOS IA) that will close important gaps in governance. A positive result would provide a measure of protection and conservation of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) where there is none at present.

Comments on draft text

The IUCN Environmental Law Center worked with Kristina Gjerde and Cymie Payne, the WCEL (IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law) Oceans, Coasts and Coral Reefs Specialist Group Chair, to finalise the comments on the new draft BBNJ text.

                                        IUCN comments 2020 >> Download

                                        IUCN comments 2019 >> Download

For futher and more detailed information about UNCLOS see the attached document.

unclos_further_information.pdf

For additional information and references click here