UN Treaty Event: Marine Biodiversity Conservation Beyond National Jurisdiction | United Nations

Press conference by David Nanopoulos, Chief of the Treaty Section and Vladimir Jares, Director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat on the annual Treaty Event.

The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction” will be the focus of this year’s Treaty Event.

Speaking to journalists in New York today (14 Sep), David Nanopoulos, Chief of the Treaty Section at the United Nations, said, “the Treaty Event was initiated by the Secretary-General in 2000, and its spirit is very simple - the Secretary-General invites head of state and governments and Minister of Foreign Affairs to seize the opportunity of their presence in New York to join multilateral treaties.”

He added, “it has been a huge success since then, with more than 2000 treaty actions.”

According to Nanopoulos, “in his letter of invitation to head of states the Secretary-General recalled again, the need for collective response to the triple crisis of climate disruption, biodiversity loss and pollution. And multilateral treaties such as the Paris Agreement, the Kigali amendment, or the Convention on Biological Diversity, just to give some examples, are among the treaties highlighted at all Treaty Events, aiming to address this crisis.”

He explained, “universal participation to these treaties is absolutely fundamental to their success. It was celebrated recently here and elsewhere, further to the scientific assessment report on Montreal Protocol on ozone depleting substances, thanks to universal participation to this particular treaty, the ozone layer is well on its way to full recovery.”

Vladimir Jares, Director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea from the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, also spoke to media. He said, “the treaty is a very complex treaty”. Jares continued, “It's usually simple for signature but might be quite complex for the ratification, it needs to go through the parliaments.”

This year’s Treaty Event will take place from 19 to 22 September 2023, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, in conjunction with the General Debate of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.