International Conference (2019): “25 Years of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”

The date of the conference also inspired its name: “25 Years of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”. UNCLOS, often referred to as a “constitution for the oceans”, remains the central framework convention that established a comprehensive legal regime for ocean governance. However, due to its age and changing developments and uses of the oceans, UNCLOS faces a multitude of challenges. The conference aimed to, on the one hand, celebrate the successes of UNCLOS and, on the other hand, identify and discuss key challenges and how they could be addressed using the legal tools provided under UNCLOS.
Author Sara Wissmann, Valentin Schatz, and Robert Steenkamp