Defenders' Experts
Media Contacts
Please direct media inquiries to:
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
UNCLOS, adopted in 1982 after fourteen years of negotiation, establishes a comprehensive legal regime for the world’s oceans and seas with rules governing uses of the marine environment and its resources. It enshrines the notion that the problems of shared ocean space are closely related and need to be addressed as a whole.
The Convention establishes coastal states’ sovereign rights within twelve nautical miles over their territorial seas as well as in a 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for natural resources and certain economic activities; designates rights for the passage of ships and aircraft; provides allowances to landlocked states for resources and revenues from the oceans; requires cooperation in the management of living resources and environmental policies and activities; and incorporates requirements to prevent and control marine pollution.
Unfortunately, the United States is one of the few major countries that have not ratified the agreement. Defenders urges UNCLOS ratification as it is in the U.S. interest in many ways.
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