UN agrees on increased protection of oceans

“Now at last there are global rules for how States can use the world’s oceans. This is an important development of international law. Sweden, together with the European Commission, has led the negotiations on behalf of the EU. It is now important that States sign and ratify the agreement as soon as possible so that it can enter into force,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billstrom.

Negotiations on an agreement for the protection of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction have been under way for more than 15 years. The goal has been to fill in the gaps that were left when the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982. The new agreement includes: rules for marine protection areas, environmental impact statements, marine genetic resources, and capacity-building and technology transfer.

Preventing negative environmental impacts in particularly valuable marine areas is crucial to strengthening the resilience of marine life to climate change and human impacts. Sweden and the EU support the UN’s goal to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans.

“This is the most important international environmental agreement since the Paris Agreement and provides significantly improved opportunities to protect biodiversity and combat climate change. We are now preparing to become a contracting party and are assessing how our own legislation must be adapted,” says Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari.