Norway’s main priorities for the 80th session of the UN General Assembly

We are in a period of geopolitical upheaval, marked by rapid change and widespread uncertainty. Rivalry between the major powers is increasing and there is growing polarisation. The UN is in deep financial crisis. The UN General Assembly is the world’s most representative multilateral forum for dialogue and policy development. As such, it is a key arena for promoting Norwegian interests, for international cooperation, and for finding solutions to global challenges. The overall guidelines for Norwegian multilateral policy remain unchanged, see the white paper Norway’s Role and Interests in Multilateral Cooperation (Meld. St. 27 (2018–2019)). Norwegian policy is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and international law.

The 80th session of the UN General Assembly will open on 9 September 2025 at the UN Headquarters in New York and will begin with the inauguration of the new President, Ms Annalena Baerbock of Germany. The theme for the 80th session including the General Debate will be: Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights. The General Assembly High-level Week will take place from 23–29 September. Norway’s delegation will be led by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide, Minister of International Development Åsmund Grøver Aukrust, and Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen will also be taking part. Representatives of Norwegian civil society organisations will be included in the Norwegian delegation and will participate in various events during the autumn session. Most of the General Assembly meetings will be streamed online and will be accessible to everyone.

A number of high-level meetings will be held during the High-level Week, including an event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the UN and a high-level meeting to mark the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing+30) on the opening day, 22 September. Other key meetings on the UN agenda will focus on financing for development, youth issues, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition, a political declaration on non-communicable diseases and mental health is to be adopted. A G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting will also be held.

The multilateral system based on international law is vital for Norway. Global challenges such as the climate and health crises can only be addressed through international cooperation under the UN. For small countries like Norway, it is also crucial to maintain respect for international law. However, the UN and the multilateral system are under enormous pressure, and we may have reached a critical crossroads. Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and the war in Gaza involve clear violations of international law, are undermining respect for the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and weakening the international community’s confidence in the UN’s ability to maintain peace and security.

Fundamental norms and values are being questioned. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which has been a global governance instrument since 2015, is being challenged by key actors, as are women’s rights and gender equality. The UN is seeing funding freezes and substantial cuts in financing. The US has been a major and important donor to the multilateral system but has reduced its support. Many European countries have also reduced their funding for the UN and have diverted aid to support Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion. The steadily widening gap between the SDGs and the available financing, combined with a rise in war and conflict, is creating tensions between wealthy countries and countries in the Global South.

The UN Secretary-General has raised concerns that the UN can expect to see significant reductions in funding. This will affect the UN’s humanitarian, peace and security, long-term development and human rights efforts. The UN’s ability to deliver on the ground will be greatly reduced. Norway has made it clear that it will maintain its support to the UN. Many other countries are doing the same, but this cannot compensate for the loss of funding from the US and other major donors.

The Secretary-General has established the UN80 Task Force, as part of the UN80 Initiative, to put forward concrete proposals for cost-cutting and reform measures to enable the UN to continue to deliver with reduced funding. The proposals will be the subject of discussion and negotiations throughout the autumn. Norway is participating actively in this work, among other things through cross-regional cooperation in the UN80 global group. The aim is to make the UN as strong and effective as possible.

1. Foster multilateral cooperation, including successful UN reform based on the Secretary-General’s UN80 initiative

Multilateral cooperation and respect for international law are vital for Norway’s security, economy and welfare. Norway will actively support the crucial reform process initiated by the UN Secretary-General.  We will work to put forward viable, ambitious proposals to increase UN efficiency and effectiveness and safeguard the values and principles that are most important to Norway. At the same time, these will be challenging discussions, and Norway, too, must be willing to accept changes in priorities in areas of importance to us.

Norway will work to:

• Counteract polarisation and restore trust in the multilateral system. Promote cooperation across traditional and regional divides. Increase support for multilateral solutions by building bridges, listening to others, and using constructive diplomacy.
• Actively support the UN80 Initiative and reform of the UN system together with the other countries in the UN80 global group. Support efforts to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of UN management, the UN peace and security pillar, the human rights architecture and the UN development system in order to establish clear priorities between tasks and avoid duplication.
• Support the principles set out in the Pact for the Future on the reform of global governance. Make the UN more effective and representative
• Secure more flexible and predictable financing for the UN. Promote results-based management in UN institutions and sound and effective management of UN resources, and ensure that the UN has the funding and flexibility it needs to fulfil its mandates.
• Promote system-wide coordination at country level through a nexus approach that recognises the interlinkages between peacebuilding, humanitarian action and long-term development.
• Ensure that efforts to promote human rights, including women’s rights and participation, are given priority across all the UN’s areas of work.
• Promote more representative and inclusive multilateral cooperation for example by seeking to increase the participation of civil society, and young people in particular.
• Promote Nordic coordination and a clearer Nordic voice in the UN.
• Strengthen the relationship between the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council. Foster close cooperation with other actors, including multilateral development banks, for example on following up the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4).

2. Promote respect for international law and the international legal order 

For Norway, it is vital to maintain an international legal order that provides a clear and predictable framework for international cooperation. The importance of having fundamental rules of international law governing relations between states has been brought to the fore in recent years; tools in the international legal toolbox are often employed in the response to international crises. At the same time, we are seeing more and more examples where international law is not being respected. In intergovernmental negotiations, a number of countries are also calling for wording that would risk weakening or undermining existing obligations under international law. The work in the UN and other international bodies therefore now focuses just as much on preserving existing rules and preventing weakening of existing obligations in this area as on establishing new rules.

Norway will work to:

• Maintain a world order based on international law, including the principles set out in the UN Charter. Promote respect for and compliance with international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, and safeguard the international legal order.
• Play a constructive role in discussions on the development and codification of international law.
• Counter the narrative on double standards by working to ensure consistent, apolitical application of the principles and rules of international law.
• Actively promote international dispute settlement mechanisms.
• Safeguard the position of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as the legal framework for all activity at sea. Support the implementation of the international marine biodiversity agreement (BBNJ Agreement). Strengthen and further develop the law of the sea as the basis for sound ocean management and the sustainable use of resources.
• Participate actively in discussions on issues relating to international humanitarian law (IHL), with a view to countering attempts to weaken or undermine existing IHL obligations.
• Support the ILC’s work on crimes against humanity and the negotiation of a convention on this issue based on the ILC’s draft articles.
• Combat impunity for international crimes. Actively support the International Criminal Court (ICC) and help to protect it against possible attacks. Support a potential new convention on the criminal accountability of UN officials and experts on mission.
• Follow the discussions on universal jurisdiction, and prevent any weakening of the capacity to combat and respond to the most serious crimes.
• Follow the discussions on the ILC’s draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters. Develop a united Nordic position.
• Play a constructive role in the efforts to conclude a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.
• Participate actively in discussions on the ILC’s annual reports, and ensure that the UN General Assembly takes steps to follow up the ILC’s work.
• Actively promote respect for international law, including defending the fundamental principles set out in the UN Charter on states’ territorial integrity and their right of self-defence if they are attacked. Prevent and counter disinformation claiming that support to Ukraine from NATO and Europe undermines the principles of the UN Charter.
• Strengthen the UN’s role in ensuring responsible management and maintenance of a safe and open internet, artificial intelligence systems and new technologies at a global level, and promote multi-stakeholder cooperation in the digital arena.

3. Defend and strengthen human rights 

The UN’s mandate and unique position give the organisation a special responsibility to contribute to progress in the areas of democracy, anti-corruption, good governance and human rights. The Pact for the Future was an important step in terms of strengthening human rights and gender equality perspectives in the efforts to accelerate implementation of the SDGs.

There has long been a failure to comply with international human rights obligations, especially in countries that have been moving away from democracy. Civil society representatives, journalists and human rights defenders in many countries are experiencing curtailment of their rights, including their freedom of expression, assembly and association. Women’s rights and gender equality, in particular sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the rights of LGBT+ people, are under pressure. Geopolitical differences and national far-right movements are adversely affecting the negotiating climate in the UN. Norway considers it vital to safeguard universal rights and fundamental freedoms, legal protection and the rule of law, particularly in times of crisis.

Norway will work to:

• Strengthen and protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and incorporate a rights-based approach into all aspects of the UN’s work as a cross-cutting issue. 
• Promote and protect human rights defenders. Give particular priority to safeguarding freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion or belief, and workers’ rights.
• Play a key role in facilitating the meaningful participation of civil society, human rights defenders and indigenous peoples in UN work and processes.
• Encourage cooperation and compromise across regional and other divides.
• Combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), religion or belief, disability, ethnicity or other minority status.
• Promote gender equality and women’s rights. Ensure that women’s rights and gender equality are integrated as a cross-cutting issue. Ensure that sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and women’s right to economic and political participation are given particular priority in gender equality efforts. Support international efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence.
• Help to document and collect evidence of the most serious violations of human rights to make it possible to hold perpetrators accountable and facilitate prosecution at a later date.
• Support UN efforts to prevent and combat corruption, including providing information about, and gathering support for, a Norwegian-led resolution on transparency on the funding of political parties and candidates, which is being negotiated in the lead-up to the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in December.

4. Enhance the UN’s capacity to build peace and prevent and resolve conflicts 

The best way to promote peace and security is through predictable international cooperation based on international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes. The UN plays a key role in international efforts to advance peace and security, which are a prerequisite for sustainable development.

Norway will work to:

• Prevent, mitigate and resolve conflicts, and as a member of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, promote comprehensive UN efforts to support countries affected by conflict and fragility, and participate actively in the negotiations on the review of the peacebuilding architecture. Encourage the UN to cooperate with other multilateral organisations, such as the World Bank, the regional development banks, and regional organisations. The partnership between the UN and the African Union (AU) is particularly important in this context.
• Support UN peacekeeping operations and reform of UN peacekeeping to promote more coherent, coordinated and effective implementation of these operations. The upcoming review of UN peacekeeping operations, as outlined in the Pact for the Future is an important part of the reform process, and like the UN80 Initiative, is to be monitored closely.
• Strengthen the capacity of UN peace operations to protect civilians, including through support for political processes.
• Support UN peace diplomacy efforts. Maintain an active engagement in efforts to address conflicts and humanitarian crises. Create meeting places and foster dialogue between parties to conflict and other relevant actors.
• Give priority to the women, peace and security agenda. Increase the proportion of women participating at all levels of UN peace operations, as both civilian and military personnel. Strengthen women’s rights and participation in all phases of peace processes and at all decision-making levels. Ensure that the gender perspective is integrated into all aspects of peace and security work, and that commitments in this area are translated into concrete action. Play a key role in promoting international cooperation through the Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network.
• Integrate climate-related security risks as a cross-cutting issue in UN peace and security efforts, in close collaboration with the countries that are most severely affected by the impacts of climate change. Ensure that disaster risk reduction, adaptation and resilience building are included in regional and local dialogues and cooperation on peace, security and development.
• Participate actively in UN efforts to prevent and combat transnational terrorism and violent extremism, an area where Western countries and countries in the South largely have common interests. Support reform initiatives that consolidate UN mandates and efforts in the field and that help to increase alignment with UN mandates in the area of peace and security, where possible. Support UN efforts to combat transnational organised crime. Promote a comprehensive and human rights-based approach to these efforts.

 5. Continue to push for disarmament and non-proliferation

The General Assembly is a key arena for the work on disarmament and international security. The multilateral disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control architecture is under greater pressure than it has been for a very long time. The threat from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction has increased in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The situation in Iran is also having an impact on disarmament and non-proliferation efforts. At the same time, great power rivalry and heightened geopolitical tensions are eroding trust, impeding cooperation and undermining the willingness to compromise. The need to protect existing multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation regimes is greater than it has been for many years.

Norway works to promote multilateral instruments that enhance international security. Norway actively supports processes that can bring countries closer together on this issue, can engage the nuclear-weapon states, and can deliver results. Efforts to promote nuclear disarmament and cooperation with countries both in and outside NATO aimed at achieving a world without nuclear weapons will be strengthened. Nuclear disarmament verification is essential for achieving this goal and the development of a credible multilateral verification regime is therefore vital.

Norway will work to:

• Maintain its leading role in the work to promote disarmament verification within the framework of the UN.
• Put forward a new resolution on disarmament verification, together with Brazil, with the aim of establishing a group of scientific and technical experts on nuclear disarmament verification within the UN.
• Ensure that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) continues to be the cornerstone of the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
• Promote the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), particularly vis-à-vis countries that have not yet signed and/or ratified the Treaty.
• Actively highlight the importance of and ensure compliance with the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Mine Ban Treaty.
• Support the further development of a UN-led legal order that creates a predictable framework and promotes peaceful coexistence in outer space.
• Increase support for the global framework for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. Norway supports initiatives aimed at creating a stronger common understanding of how existing international law, including international humanitarian law, applies to state activities in cyberspace.
• Promote regulation of autonomous weapons systems, taking a two-track approach: an explicit ban on weapons systems that cannot be used in compliance with international humanitarian law and a regulatory framework for other types of weapons systems with autonomous functions.
• Promote multilateral dialogue on disarmament and the principle of irreversibility, multilateral measures to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons being used, and arms control efforts, and raise awareness of the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons.
• Support efforts to depolarise the disarmament debate by ensuring that attention is given to the rights and obligations relating to peaceful use, and highlighting the importance of export control regimes for promoting both non-proliferation and peaceful uses.

6. Maintain the UN’s capacity to prevent and respond to humanitarian crises, and promote international cooperation on refugees and migrants

Norway will promote compliance with international humanitarian law and the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence in order to assist and protect people affected by humanitarian crises.

Norway will work to:

• Ensure the continued delivery of principled humanitarian aid at a time when international humanitarian law is being challenged and funding is being reduced.
• Secure broadest possible support for the ongoing reform of the humanitarian system with an emphasis on increasing locally led humanitarian efforts, protecting civilians from violence and other forms of abuse, and simplifying and streamlining the humanitarian architecture.
• Implement Norwegian humanitarian policy in line with Norway’s new humanitarian strategy (2024–2029), with a focus on enhancing protection of civilians against violence and other forms of abuse, strengthening efforts to combat hunger and reducing the gap between increasing humanitarian needs and available resources.
• Strengthen humanitarian efforts in light of the significant increase in humanitarian needs resulting from the growing number of protracted armed conflicts, climate-related risks, and economic setbacks. 
• Enhance the protection of people affected by crisis and conflict, with a particular focus on sexual and gender-based violence, as well as on protection of children, young people, refugees and internally displaced people, and health and education institutions, and on protection against mines and other explosives, and on the impacts of war in urban areas. Ensure that the UN General Assembly presents a clear, consistent message on the need to achieve full compliance with international humanitarian law in all armed conflicts.
• Promote mine clearance and humanitarian disarmament, including mobilising support for and advancing the implementation of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA Declaration). 
• Strengthen the UN humanitarian system, in line with the commitments made in the Grand Bargain, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. 
• Achieve a more effective and better coordinated response for refugees, displaced people and host communities, in line with the Government’s dedicated funding initiative in this area, the Refugee Convention and the Global Compact on Refugees. Promote safe, orderly and regular migration and counter irregular migration, within the framework of the Global Compact for Migration. 
• Promote humanitarian innovation and green humanitarian response as well as new working methods that increase effectiveness and deliver better results for people affected by crisis.

7. Advance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, with particular emphasis on financing for development, food security, climate and environmental issues, energy, gender equality, health, and the oceans 

The 2030 Agenda is the world’s action plan for sustainable development. It integrates all three dimensions of sustainable development – the economic, social and environmental. The 2030 Agenda was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 with the support of all 193 member states. It sets out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. Norway played an active role in securing the adoption of the SDGs and has committed to working to reach them by 2030. However, the world is lagging far behind in implementing the SDGs. Overlapping and successive crises combined with a lack of effective, global political solutions have hampered efforts to reach virtually all of the SDGs. The world is facing both a deficit of trust and inadequate access to financial capital for sustainable development.

The 2030 Agenda continues to guide Norway’s efforts. We are working to further develop national and global partnerships and strengthen cooperation with actors that can make constructive and innovative contributions, by providing financing and other solutions. The multilateral development banks, with their effective financing models, have a crucial role to play. The business sector, civil society organisations and the academic community all serve as important partners in this context, providing access to networks, expertise or capital.

Norway will work to:

• Create consensus on policies that lead to more effective implementation of the SDGs, by providing constructive technical and strategic guidance on political commitments, priorities, flexible financing, joint initiatives and targeted partnerships.
• Promote a nexus approach and improve coordination between humanitarian action, peacebuilding and long-term development efforts. Highlight the importance of a human rights-based approach – and of gender mainstreaming – for achieving the SDGs.
• Ensure that the conclusions of the SDG Summit the Summit of the Future and the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) are viewed as strategic tools for advancing the 2030 Agenda.
• Promote support for the International Forum on Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) and the TOSSD framework as a reporting system that provides visibility and incentives for financing efforts that will help us to reach the SDGs, but that cannot at present be reported, wholly or in part, as official development assistance (ODA).

In particular, Norway will work to secure good results in the following areas:

a) Financing for Development 

• Increase the focus on SDG 8 on promoting decent work and economic growth; SDG 1 on ending poverty; and SDG 10 on reducing inequality. Highlight women’s role in and contribution to delivering economic growth.
• Promote constructive cooperation between the UN system and the multilateral development banks.
• Take on a leadership role in the efforts to follow up the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). Give priority to issues such as domestic resource mobilisation, tax cooperation, private investment mobilisation, and the fight against illicit financial flows, corruption and tax crime.
• Maintain the ambitious target of allocating 1 % of GNI to development aid. Emphasise the need for predictable contributions from all countries, including emerging economies. Advocate for the strategic targeting of aid, to ensure that it is used more systematically to improve the ability of developing countries to mobilise their own resources and as a catalyst for attracting private investment and capital.
• Highlight the importance of strengthening national resource mobilisation, including through progressive tax systems, increased tax revenues and measures to combat tax evasion and illicit financial flows. Emphasise the importance of effective and inclusive international tax cooperation in connection with the UN’s efforts to develop a framework convention on this issue.
• Encourage the UN and the multilateral system to raise the ambition level as regards combating illicit financial flows. Respond constructively to calls from the Global South to ensure that the forums developing international tax rules and standards include as many countries as possible, in order to secure broad support for and give legitimacy to global tax measures.
• Increase the focus on the negative impacts of corruption. Support UN efforts in the areas of anti-corruption and good governance and highlight the importance of incorporating anti-corruption as a cross-cutting issue in the financing agenda.
• Push for constructive and viable reforms to promote effective handling of government debt crises, as part of the work to follow up FFD4, and to discourage any reopening of concluded discussions. Advocate full transparency on debt and promote responsible borrowing and lending practices to prevent the risk of new debt problems undermining progress towards the SDGs.
• Promote digital cooperation to reduce the digital gap within developing countries and between developed and developing countries, as champion of the Digital Public Goods Alliance. Take part in the discussions on the Global Digital Compact and foster closer cooperation on enhancing digital access and public digital infrastructure.
• Highlight the need for more effective, better coordinated and less fragmented development aid. Core support is often more effective than earmarked aid. Core support also provides a unique multiplier effect for the UN and the development banks. Aid should be used to provide support to national institutions and systems rather than to strengthen parallel channels.

b) Hunger, food security and climate-smart agriculture 

• Work to achieve the goals set out in Norway’s strategy for promoting food security in development policy – Combining forces against hunger – a policy to improve food self-sufficiency.
• Strengthen international efforts to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, enhance social safety nets, and promote sustainable food production.
• Work to increase climate-resilient food production. Promote women’s participation in efforts relating to climate change, energy and food security.

c) Climate, environment and clean energy 

• Defend and promote the climate agenda and counter attempts to diminish the importance of climate action as an international priority in multilateral forums and international cooperation, in line with the Government’s Climate Strategy for the Foreign Service.
• Encourage countries to submit more ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and present Norway’s new NDC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70–75 % by 2035.
• Mobilise finance for the development of renewable energy and climate technology in developing countries and emerging economies.
• Put climate change adaptation, the issue of loss and damage, biodiversity and disaster risk reduction high on the international agenda.
• Promote the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
• Seek to enhance the effectiveness of climate finance and make it more accessible to the most vulnerable countries, including via the Loss and Damage Fund.
• Put the area of climate, peace and security on the international agenda.
• Support international climate and environmental efforts in areas where Norway has comparative advantages and can help to create jobs. These areas include: renewable energy development, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, offshore wind, green shipping, as well as sustainable ocean management and seabed mapping
• Promote Norway’s priorities in the lead-up to the UN climate change conference (COP 30) in Belém, in official and bilateral meetings, and through participation in relevant side events.

d) Gender equality – which leads to greater freedom, welfare and democracy 

• Implement Norway’s Action Plan for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in Foreign and Development Policy (2023–2030), which provides the basis for our efforts to reach SDG 5 on gender equality. Integrate gender equality as a cross-cutting issue in our efforts to reach all the SDGs.
• Highlight the need to strengthen economic and political rights. Give priority to the efforts to promote women’s participation at all levels of decision-making in the labour market, business, the political arena and in governance.
• Give priority to the efforts to protect and promote women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. Strengthen women’s right to decide over their own bodies, by stepping up efforts on this issue and seeking to establish new alliances. Enhance protection against violence and harmful practices.
• Improve women’s and girls’ access to education, digital technology/training and health services.
• Seek to prevent setbacks in women’s rights and actively promote the implementation of, and compliance with, international and national obligations relating to the promotion of women’s participation.

e) Good health – a good in itself and vital for sustainable development 

• Give priority to building robust health systems based on effective universal primary health care services, both to ensure early detection and treatment of disease and to enhance preparedness and response to health crises. Other priorities include good nutrition, food security and environments that promote health and well-being.
• Promote sexual and reproductive health and rights, and measures that can reduce sexual violence and sexual harassment, particularly in humanitarian crises and conflict situations.
• Support international norms and standards, mobilise funding and protect global public goods, across regional groups of countries.
• Promote the implementation of the Lusaka Agenda, including supporting efforts to establish a more efficient health financing system, strengthen national ownership of health programmes, and ensure that national plans on health aid are drawn up.
• Seek to ensure that the high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases and mental health (HLM4) reaffirms the importance of strong, climate-resilient health systems and of universal, equitable access to health care services.

f) Clean and healthy oceans – which are crucial to human survival 

• Give high priority to the two annual General Assembly resolutions on oceans and the law of the sea and on sustainable fisheries, respectively.
• Promote a global agreement on combating plastic pollution and marine litter, and work to advance implementation of the BBNJ Agreement.
• Give priority to following up the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3).
• Support knowledge-based ocean management and the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
• Raise awareness of the work of the Ocean Panel and highlight its relevance for UN member states. Seek to ensure that the recommendations of the Ocean Panel are successfully incorporated into the UN’s agenda and into the work of UN organisations, programmes and funds. Ocean-based solutions and sustainable management can help mitigate climate change and enhance food security.
• Increase international recognition of the importance of the oceans for the economy, food security, energy production and job creation, and of the role that sustainable use of marine resources and clean and healthy oceans play in enhancing value creation. It is important to ensure that women have the same opportunities as men to benefit from the development of new industries.
• Enhance coordination between the UN’s ocean-related efforts and the ongoing work under the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.