General Assembly Distr.: General 10 March 2008
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United Nations A/63/63 General Assembly Distr.: General 10 March 2008 Original: English Sixty-third session Item 73 (a) of the preliminary list* Oceans and the law of the sea Oceans and the law of the sea Report of the Secretary-General** Summary The present report has been prepared in compliance with the request made by the General Assembly in paragraph 148 of its resolution 62/215 that the Secretary- General submit to the Assembly at its sixty-third session a comprehensive report on developments and issues relating to ocean affairs and the law of the sea. It is also submitted to States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, pursuant to article 319 of the Convention, to be considered by the Meeting of States Parties under the agenda item entitled “Report of the Secretary-General under article 319 for the information of States parties on issues of a general nature, relevant to States parties, that have arisen with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”. It will furthermore serve as a basis for discussion at the ninth meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea. * A/63/50. ** Owing to the page limit, this report contains a mere summary of the most important recent developments and selected parts of contributions by relevant agencies, programmes and bodies. 08-26626 (E) 060608 *0826626* A/63/63 Contents Paragraphs Page Abbreviations.................................................................. 6 I. Introduction ......................................................... 1–5 8 II. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and its implementing Agreements ......................................................... 6–10 9 A. Status of the Convention and its implementing Agreements .............. 69 B. Declarations and statements under articles 287, 298 and 310 of the Convention and article 43 of the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement ...................................................... 7–9 9 C. Meeting of States Parties .......................................... 10 10 III. Maritime space ...................................................... 11–15 10 A. Overview of recent developments regarding State practice, maritime claims and the delimitation of maritime zones ............................... 11–14 10 B. Deposit and due publicity.......................................... 15 11 IV. Bodies established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea .... 16–34 11 A. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.......................... 17–19 11 B. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf .................... 20–34 12 1. Consideration of the submission made by Australia ................ 21–22 12 2. Consideration of the submission made by New Zealand ............. 23–25 12 3. Consideration of the joint submission made by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland....... 26 13 4. Consideration of the submission made by Norway ................. 27–28 13 5. Consideration of the submission made by France .................. 29–30 13 6. Submission made by Mexico ................................... 31–32 13 7. Workload of the Commission .................................. 33–34 14 V. Maritime security and safety ........................................... 35–228 14 A. Introduction ..................................................... 35–38 14 B. Maritime security ................................................ 39–160 15 1. Overview of the legal regime in the Charter of the United Nations and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea .............. 43–53 16 2. Addressing specific threats to maritime security ................... 54–113 18 3. Current challenges in maritime security .......................... 114–160 33 C. Maritime safety .................................................. 161–246 44 1. Overview of the international legal framework .................... 164–170 45 2 08-26626 A/63/63 2. Recent developments relating to maritime safety .................. 171–208 46 3. Current challenges in maritime safety............................ 209–228 55 VI. Marine science and technology ......................................... 229–246 59 A. Marine science................................................... 230–233 59 B. Early Warning Systems............................................ 234–238 60 C. Recent developments in marine technology ........................... 239–246 61 VII. Conservation and management of marine fishery resources .................. 247–258 63 VIII. Marine biological diversity............................................. 259–280 67 A. Recent measures to address activities and pressures on marine biological diversity ........................................................ 260–262 67 B. Initiatives regarding specific ecosystems ............................. 263–267 68 C. Measures for specific species....................................... 268–280 69 1. Cetaceans................................................... 268–272 69 2. Other migratory species ....................................... 273–276 70 D. Genetic resources ................................................ 277–280 71 IX. Protection and preservation of the marine environment and sustainable development......................................................... 281–353 71 A. Introduction ..................................................... 281–283 71 B. Pollution from land-based activities ................................. 284–287 72 C. Degradation of the marine environment resulting from shipping activities .. 288–298 73 1. Prevention and control ........................................ 290–292 73 2. Liability and compensation .................................... 293–298 74 D. Ocean noise ..................................................... 299–301 76 E. Waste management ............................................... 302–307 76 F. Area-based management tools ...................................... 308–317 78 G. Regional cooperation ............................................. 318–353 80 1. UNEP Regional Seas Programme ............................... 319–320 81 2. Antarctic ................................................... 321–323 81 3. Arctic ...................................................... 324–325 82 4. Baltic ...................................................... 326–328 82 5. Black Sea................................................... 329–330 83 6. Caspian Sea ................................................. 331–332 84 7. East Asian Sea............................................... 333–334 84 8. Eastern and Western Africa .................................... 335 84 08-26626 3 A/63/63 9. Mediterranean ............................................... 336–339 85 10. North-East Atlantic........................................... 340–342 86 11. North-West Pacific ........................................... 343 86 12. Pacific ..................................................... 344–346 86 13. South-East Pacific ........................................... 347–348 87 14. South Asian Seas............................................. 349 87 15. Other regional organizations ................................... 350–353 88 X. Climate change ...................................................... 354–364 89 A. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change .......................... 358–359 90 B. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol ........................................................ 360–361 91 C. Other developments .............................................. 362–364 91 XI. Settlement of disputes ................................................. 365–374 92 A. International Court of Justice....................................... 365–370 92 B. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.......................... 371 93 C. International arbitration ........................................... 372–374 93 XII. International cooperation and coordination................................ 375–383 94 A. United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea................................................ 375–376 94 B. Regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment, including socio-economic aspects ................. 377–380 95 C. Oceans and Coastal Areas Network (UN-Oceans) ...................... 381–383 96 XIII. Capacity-building activities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea ................................................................ 384–403 97 A. Briefings for General Assembly delegates ............................ 386–387 97 B. Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Fellowship Programme ................. 388–389 97 C. United Nations-Nippon Foundation of Japan Fellowship Programme ...... 390–393 98 D. Training courses ................................................. 394–396 99 1. TRAIN-SEA-COAST Programme............................... 394–395 99 2. Training course to promote compliance with article 76 of the Convention ................................................. 396 99 E. Trust funds...................................................... 397–403 99 1. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf ................ 397–400 99 4 08-26626 A/63/63 2. Voluntary trust fund for the purpose of assisting developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing States, in attending