A/RES/76/72 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 20 December 2021 Seventy-sixth session Agenda item 78 (a) Oceans and the law of the sea: oceans and the law of the sea Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 2021 [without reference to a Main Committee (A/76/L.20 and A/76/L.20/Add.1)] 76/72. Oceans and the law of the sea The General Assembly, Reaffirming its annual resolutions on the law of the sea and on oceans and the law of the sea, including resolution 75/239 of 31 December 2020, as well as other relevant resolutions concerning the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention), 1 Recalling, in this regard, resolution 72/249 of 24 December 2017 on an international legally binding instrument under the Convention on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and decision 75/570 of 22 June 2021; Taking into account the continuing situation concerning the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the limitations recommended on meetings within the United Nations premises as precautionary measures aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19, Underscoring the importance of the work undertaken by the intergovernmental conference to elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under the Convention on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, Having considered the reports of the Secretary-General, 2 the report on the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects (the Regular Process), 3 the report on the work of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea __________________ 1 2 3 21-18581 (E) United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1833, No. 31363. A/75/70, A/76/311 and A/76/311/Add.1. A/76/391. 291221 *2118581*

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