Speech of Dr. Guy Fleury-Ntwari,

Legal Counsel of the African Union & Director of Legal Affairs

CELEBRATION OF 40 YEARS OF AFRICA’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA (UNCLOS)

16^th December 2022

Dear Ambassadors;

Our Experts from Member States, some of whom are based in New York and traveled to be with us here today;

Representatives of our Member States;

Members of the African Commission on International Law present;

Directors and Heads of Departments within the AUC present and other Staff of the AUC present.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the capital city of Addis Ababa, the world’s third-highest capital city with 2,440 meters above sea level and seated on a plateau surrounded by hills and mountains.

Welcome to the Celebration of Africa’s Contribution to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as it turns 40 years old. We are here to celebrate the product of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), an instrument that was adopted in 1982, and came into force on 14 November 1994. It is important to note that the first sixty ratifications of UNCLOS were almost all developing states. We are celebrating an instrument that lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world’s oceans and seas, establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources. We are celebrating an instrument that embodies traditional rules for the uses of the oceans and simultaneously introduced new legal concepts and regimes, and addresses new concerns. In addition to that, we are celebrating an instrument that provides a framework for further development of specific areas of the law of the sea. Therefore, the significance and essentiality of the UNCLOS legal framework and regulations for the marine sector and maritime activities cannot be emphasized enough.

Dear Ambassadors, Experts, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are here to celebrate Africa’s Contribution to the Convention, whose major features include the definition of maritime zones- the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, the continental shelf, the high sea, the international sea-bed area and archipelagic waters, and also makes provision for the passage of ships, protection of the marine environment, freedom of scientific research, and exploitation of resources.

The adoption and content of UNCLOS is the achievement of various participants in the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), who have given us an instrument that, to a greater extent gives us legal certainty in some of the areas I have just mentioned, and we are here today to celebrate the contribution of Africa to that process, and to the subsequent actual implementation of the Convention.

 In order to guide our discussions and to provide context, I would like to brief you on various legal and policy framework developments in the previous years within the context of the African Union, to implement and give effect to the provisions the UNCLOS within the African context by our Member States. I am sure that some of our experts present here will shed more light and provide specific details on these developments in their presentations in the course of the day, as some have contributed to the drafting of these instruments and policies.

Measures have been taken at the continental level, and within the African Union to ensure a well-coordinated, enhanced  and effective implementation of the UNCLOS in the African context and in the manner that speaks to our realities as Africans. One of those measures is the adoption of a historical Charter on Maritime Security and Safety and Development in Africa, also known as the Lomé Charte,r which envisages a better implementation of UNCLOS across the continent. The Lomé Charter was adopted in October 2016 by the Assembly of the Union, during its Extra-Ordinary Session in Lome, Togo.

Once it enters into force, the Charter has the potential to boost the protection of Africa’s coasts and seas and ultimately create a healthy and sustainable blue economy, however, the slow ratification of the Charter has hindered the process of the Charter entering into force as only 34 Member States have signed it and only one ratified it to date. The Charter will only enter into force 30 days after the deposit of the 15^th instrument of ratification.

In addition to the  Lomé Charter, the African Union has achieved so far the adoption of the African Maritime Transport Charter; the adoption of the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM Strategy) which is a holistic approach to all marine and maritime issues; and the adoption of  AU Agenda 2063, accompanied by it’s 10 year implementation plan which includes the African Blue/Ocean Economy to boost sustainable and inclusive blue growth, within dimensions such as natural resources, energy, trade, development and security, amongst others.

Dear Ambassadors, Experts, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Member States of the AU, the Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management, and Resolution, Regional Economic Communities and the African Union Commission have responded to dimensions of the African maritime domain with a set of policies in an effort to integrate their evolving practices into a coherent maritime security and safety policy. This led to the adoption of the 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime (AIM) Strategy by the AU Assembly at its 22^nd Ordinary Session in January 2014. This undoubtedly marked a momentous achievement in uncharted ‘waters’ with regard to African marine policy.

The 2050 AIM Strategy, which is a long-term strategic vision for the development of Africa’s blue economy, was developed as a tool to address Africa’s maritime challenges for sustainable development and competitiveness.  The Strategy aims to foster more wealth creation from Africa’s oceans, seas, and inland waterways by developing a thriving maritime economy and realizing the full potential of sea-based activities in an environmentally sustainable manner. The overarching vision of the 2050 AIM Strategy is to foster increased wealth creation from Africa’s oceans and seas by developing a sustainable thriving blue economy in a secure and environmentally sustainable manner.

Accordingly, among others, the 2050 AIM strategy aims to achieve, “a comprehensive, concerted, coherent and coordinated approach” that improves maritime conditions with respect to environmental and socio-economic development as well as the capacity to generate wealth from sustainable governance of Africa’s seas and oceans.

Whilst the implementation of some key matters raised expressly or implicitly in the 2050 AIMS are addressed by the Lomé Charter, the latter, upon its entry into force, would fit into the scope of an integrated legal regime, marked by other international legal instruments such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – considered as the constitution of the seas – as well as a large number of national and regional maritime instruments.

The Lomé Charter is a momentous document to ensure the implementation of the earlier mentioned strategy initiatives by promoting the Blue/Ocean economy and striving for the protection of the marine environment at a continental level.

Within the framework of Agenda 2063 and in line with the 2050 Africa's Integrated Maritime Strategy, the expected fall-out of the Lomé Charter is to create a legal framework that enhances cooperation among all AU Member States as far as maritime is concerned.

With that briefing, I would like to conclude by stating that, it is important that the AU participate effectively in the global discourse on norm setting and standards on the seas and oceans and their impact on the blue economy.  The African touch is needed in order to project and protect Africa’s interest in contemporary international law in these fields. In this regard, I would like to appreciate the presence and effort of our experts who are actively contributing to global discourse, to project and protect African interests in ongoing developments, within the ambit of the law of the sea.

Before I end my opening statement and welcoming remarks, as we all may be aware, recently, we have seen interesting developments in the context of the law of the sea, in relation to climate change. On 12 December 2022, the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (the Commission) filed a request for an advisory opinion before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The Commission is seeking an advisory opinion on the ascertainment of specific obligations of State Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), including under Part XII: (a) to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment in relation to the deleterious effects that result or are likely to result from climate change, including through ocean warming and sea level rise, and ocean acidification, which are caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere?  (b) to protect and preserve the marine environment in relation to climate change impacts, including ocean warming and sea level rise, and ocean acidification?

These are all developments that we should all curiously monitor and try to determine their relevance and what they mean for Africa and its future.

Thank you to all our experts present today. I am sure we are all looking forward to their presentations, and hoping to enhance our knowledge in the areas covered by the topics of their presentations. May we have fruitful deliberations.

Thank you.