A/RES/70/235
Oceans and the law of the sea
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 o ut 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, 8
Recognizing the important contribution of sustainable development and
management of the resources and uses of the oceans and seas to the achievement of
international development goals, including those contained in the United N ations
Millennium Declaration, 9
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”, 10 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 deve lopment,
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 addressin g
the impacts of climate change,
Welcoming 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 paragraphs 64 and 65 of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the
Third International Conference on Financing for Development, adopted by the
Conference, which was held from 13 to 16 July 2015, 11
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
_______________
8
Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment 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.
9
Resolution 55/2.
10
Resolution 66/288, annex.
11
Resolution 69/313, annex.
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