United Nations Celebrates 80 Years of Treaty Making

NEW YORK, 26 September (Office of Legal Affairs) - As the United Nations marks eighty years since its founding, States reaffirmed their support of the multilateral treaty framework by undertaking a total of 30 actions at the annual treaty event which ended today, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly high-level week.

For 25 years, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs has organized the annual treaty event, held over the course of four days during the high-level week. The treaty event provides an opportunity for States to join any of the more than 600 multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General.

Two Heads of State, two Heads of Government, 16ministers and one other high-ranking official, representing 21 States from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Western European and Others group, participated in this year's treaty event.

Actions undertaken by States built on the momentum following the triggering of the entry into force of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, with 11 additional ratifications. Since the Agreement opened for signature at the 2023 treaty event, it has received a total of 145 signatures and 74ratifications so far. It will enter into force on 17 January 2026.

The overall objective of the Agreement is to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The Agreement establishes a framework for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from activities related to marine genetic resources; it sets out modalities for the establishment and implementation of measures such as marine protected areas with input from various sectors; it elaborates a process for assessing the environmental impacts of various activities; and it provides for modalities to effectuate capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology with a view to assisting Parties, particularly developing States Parties, in its implementation.

"The rapid pace of ratifications of the BBNJ Agreement including during this week at the United Nations highlights the strength of multilateralism and commitment of States towards ensuring a healthy and resilient ocean", said Elinor Hammarskjöld, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel.

In addition to the law of the sea, the 2025 treaty event also featured actions by States in several other areas such as human rights, disarmament, the law of treaties, penal matters, the protection of the environment and outer-space activities.

Background

In September 2000, the Secretary-General of the United Nations invited world leaders attending the landmark Millennium Summit to take advantage of their presence at UN Headquarters to join a wide range of major international treaties.

By signing multilateral conventions or depositing their instruments of ratification, accession or through other instruments establishing the consent to be bound, Member States contribute significantly to the advancement of the rule of law in international relations and the cause of peace.

Since 2000, the United Nations treaty events have resulted in more than 2,000 treaty-related actions, including signatures, ratifications and accessions.