International Day Against Nuclear Test
General Assembly
On September 6, the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations gave a statement during the General Assembly meeting to commemorate the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.
In its statement, the Holy See said that since the dawn of the nuclear age, it has been expressing deep concern for the violent use of atomic energy and has supported all initiatives that contribute toward a world free of nuclear weapons, including banning nuclear testing. The Holy See said that it continues to urge the rapid entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty as well as to foster the mutual trust necessary for those eight remaining States whose ratification is necessary for it to enter into force to have the confidence to ratify it.
The statement can be found here.
Towards a Global Pact for the Environment
On September 5, the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations gave a statement at the organizational session of the ad hoc open-ended Working Group established by General Assembly resolution 72/277 of 10 May 2018 entitled “Towards a Global Pact for the Environment.”
In its statement, the Holy See welcomed the establishment of the ad hoc open-ended Working Group and said there is an urgent challenge to protect our common home, part of which involves addressing possible gaps in international environmental law and environment-related instruments and ensure their implementation. Solutions must be proposed from a global perspective, it said, and not simply to defend the interests of a few countries. It stated that the provisional agenda provides a good framework for discussions but added that it must be incorporated with the processes to deal with the governance of the oceans and the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction and the draft regulations on mineral resources in those areas. For that reason it proposed that the agenda include discussions on those two processes.
Its statement can be found here.
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity in
Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
On September 4, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, gave a statement at the first session of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
In his statement, Archbishop Auza said that there is need for an international agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), building on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). He recommended six elements to guide the formulation of such an agreement: a responsibilities-based perspective; a balance between the mandates for conservation and sustainable use; a focus on cooperative research, study and analysis of ocean resources, particularly water; a concentration on resources — particularly wind, sun, water and most genetic resources — rather than on human activities; a distinction between controlled, shared access to resources and regulated, sustainable use of them; the consideration of risk prevention, and not just risk mitigation measures. He noted that history shows that with regard to natural resources, activity and investment, initial public financing gives way eventually to private investment, and the international agreement should be made with this in mind.
His remarks can be found here.