Within the framework of the 34th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, taking place from June 10-14 at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, Head of the Vietnamese delegation, chaired the International Workshop “Sea level rise in the Pacific region: current situation, legal issues and assessment from the perspective of the Law of the Sea” and the annual meeting of the Group of Friends of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Convention coming into force.

It also announced that Vietnam has nominated Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, Director of the East Sea Institute, Diplomatic Academy, to run for the position of judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the 2026-2035 term.

In recent years, responding to and adapting to climate change, including rising sea levels, has been one of the top concerns of countries, becoming a topic of discussion at many forums within the United Nations. The International Workshop on Rising Sea Levels from the Perspective of the Law of the Sea was co-organized by Vietnam and a number of member countries of the UNCLOS Friends Group including Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Oman, with the co-sponsorship of Australia, Canada, Germany, the Philippines, and Singapore. Over 100 delegates, experts on the law of the sea from more than 60 countries, scholars, and representatives of a number of United Nations agencies attended the Workshop.

In his opening remarks at the Workshop and Meeting, Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu emphasized the historical significance of UNCLOS for the development of international law. As the “Constitution of the Oceans”, UNCLOS is the most comprehensive legal framework regulating all activities at sea, and is the basis for countries to cooperate in managing oceans and seas in an orderly and sustainable manner. The head of the Vietnamese delegation affirmed that together with 115 members of the Group of Friends, they will continue to promote multilateral dialogue and cooperation in implementing and protecting the universality of UNCLOS.

At the workshop, Vietnamese legal experts including Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lan Anh and Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hong Thao, members of the United Nations International Law Commission, shared their assessment from the perspective of Vietnam - a coastal country most affected by climate change, including the risk of rising sea levels, proposing to continue to comply with and fully implement the provisions of UNCLOS in the process of resolving new challenges emerging in the governance of seas and oceans today such as marine environmental pollution, climate change and rising sea levels, and at the same time, calling for support for the preservation of baselines, boundaries of maritime zones established from baselines and maritime delimitation results agreed upon by countries through negotiations or established according to the judgment of international judicial bodies in order to maintain stability and legal order at sea.

*The workshop was organized at the initiative of Vietnam, as one of the important contributions to the preparation for the upcoming United Nations High-Level Conference on Sea Level Rise in September 2024. The large participation of countries at the workshop once again affirmed the common interest of countries in the value and role of UNCLOS in the management and use of seas and oceans in general and in cooperation to address new challenges such as climate change and sea level rise in the coming time .

*The Friends Group is an informal, flexible form of coordination aimed at enhancing cooperation among a number of countries with common interests on a specific issue at the United Nations and multilateral forums . The UNCLOS Friends Group was initiated and co-chaired by Vietnam and Germany in 2021. The Friends Group currently has 115 members from all geographical regions , including 12 core countries responsible for coordinating the Group's activities. In the past, the Group has organized many activities such as workshops, seminars , and regular meetings to discuss and promote cooperation on issues related to the implementation of UNCLOS and the management and sustainable use of oceans and seas in general.