A/RES/73/124
Oceans and the law of the sea
in conformity with the principles of justice and equal rights and to the promotion of
the economic and social advancement of all peoples of the world, in accordance with
the purposes and principles of the United Nations as set forth in the Charter of the
United Nations, as well as to the sustainable development of the oceans and seas,
Emphasizing the universal and unified character of the Convention, and
reaffirming that the Convention sets out the legal framework within which all
activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out and is of strategic importance as
the basis for national, regional and global action and cooperation in the marine sector,
and that its integrity needs to be maintained, as recognized also by the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development in chapter 17 of Agenda 21, 6
Noting with satisfaction that, in the outcome document of the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 20 to
22 June 2012, entitled “The future we want”, 7 as endorsed by the General Assembly
in resolution 66/288 of 27 July 2012, States recognized that oceans, seas and coastal
areas form an integrated and essential component of the Earth ’s ecosystem and are
critical to sustaining it, and that international law, as reflected in the Convention,
provides the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans
and their resources, and stressed the importance of the conservation and sustainable
use of the oceans and seas and of their resources for sustainable development,
including through their contributions to poverty eradication, sustained economic
growth, food security and creation of sustainable livelihoods and decent work, while
at the same time protecting biodiversity and the marine environment and addressing
the impacts of climate change,
Recalling that, in “The future we want”, States underscored that broad public
participation and access to information and judicial and administrative proceedings
were essential to the promotion of sustainable development and that sustainable
development required the meaningful involvement and active participation of
regional, national and subnational legislatures and judiciaries, and all major groups,
and, in this regard, that they agreed to work more closely with major groups and other
stakeholders and encouraged their active participation, as appropriate, in processes
that contribute to decision-making, planning and implementation of policies and
programmes for sustainable development at all levels,
Recalling also the outcome document of the United Nations summit for the
adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, held from 25 to 27 September 2015,
entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ”,
as adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, and
in this regard reaffirming the commitment to conserve and sustainably use the oceans,
seas and marine resources for sustainable development, as reflected in Goal 14 of the
outcome document,
Recognizing the important contribution of the conservation and sustainable use
of oceans, seas and marine resources to the achievement of the sustainable
development goals contained in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
Recalling its resolution 71/312 of 6 July 2017 in which it endorsed the
declaration entitled “Our ocean, our future: call for action” adopted by the high-level
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, held from 5 to 9 June 2017, coinciding with
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7
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Report of the United Nations Conference on Environ ment and Development, Rio de Janeiro,
3−14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication,
Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex II.
Resolution 66/288, annex.
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