The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted two resolutions on the 9 December 2021, Resolution 76/72: Oceans and the law of the sea and Resolution 76/71: Sustainable fisheries, including through the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, and related instruments.
Argentina stressed that certain recommendations contained in Resolution 76/72 cannot be considered as applying to states not parties to the 1994 Implementing Agreement, while Turkey voted against adoption, considering Turkey’s consistent objection to the view that UNCLOS has a “universal and unified character” (131 in favour to 1 against (Turkey) with 4 abstentions (Colombia, El Salvador, Nigeria, Venezuela)). Colombia, El Savador and Venezuela also distanced themselves from the universal nature of UNCLOS as non-parties to UNCLOS. Resolution 76/71 was adopted by consensus without a vote. Discussions (2) leading up to adoption include the position of state representatives on numerous topics, with the impacts of sea-level rise, plastic pollution, the South China Sea and discharges in the Fukushima area arising on several occasions.
De Maribus 