![]() Set rules for extending continental shelf rights up to 350 miles offshore.Set exclusive economic zones up to 200 miles offshore.Set territorial sea boundaries 12 miles offshore.Established freedom-of-navigation rights.The convention has resolved several important issues related to ocean usage and sovereignty, such as: The UN’s groundbreaking work in adopting the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention stands as a defining moment in the extension of international law to the vast, shared water resources of our planet. Urgent calls for an effective international regime over the seabed and the ocean floor beyond a clearly defined national jurisdiction set in motion a process that spanned 15 years and saw the creation of the United Nations Seabed Committee, the signing of a treaty banning nuclear weapons on the seabed, the adoption of the General Assembly’s declaration that all seabed resources beyond the limits of national jurisdiction are the common heritage of mankind, and the convening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. ![]() The United Nations is working to ensure the peaceful, cooperative, legally defined uses of the seas and oceans for the individual and common benefit of humankind. United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) The navies of the maritime powers were competing for a worldwide presence in surface waters and even under the sea. The threat of pollution was always present for coastal resorts and all forms of ocean life. There was a growing concern over the toll taken on coastal fish stocks by long-distance fishing fleets and over the threat of pollution and wastes from transport vessels and oil tankers carrying noxious cargoes that plied sea routes across the globe. While this situation lasted into the twentieth century, by mid-century there was an impetus to extend national claims over offshore resources. The rest of the seas were declared free for all and belonged to none. ![]() The oceans had long been subject to the freedom of-the-seas doctrine - a principle put forth in the 17th century, essentially limiting national rights and jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow sea belt surrounding a nation's coastline. It has separated and brought people together.Įven now, when the continents have been mapped and their interiors made accessible by road, river and air, most of the world's people live no more than 200 miles from the sea and relate closely to it. The ocean has always been an important source of food for the life it helped generate, and from earliest recorded history it has also served trade and commerce, adventure and discovery. The ocean is vast and covers 140 million square miles, some 72 per cent of the Earth's surface.
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