As a tiny island state at the confluence of key global shipping routes, heavily dependent on maritime trade, Singapore is an ardent advocate for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS.

It is my government’s unwavering position that once national maritime zones are deposited with the United Nations, theyshould never be challenged. Rights must be respected irrespective of sea level rise. Thisproposal preserves the principles of equity, fairnessand justice of the Convention and recognizes UNCLOS principles of legal stability, security, certainty,and predictability

Protecting the sovereignty of Solomon Islands’maritime zones remains important priorityof my government. We continue to worktowards the completion of the delimitation of all our maritime zonesin accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

Ofvitalimportanceissecuringthelimitsofourmaritimeboundariesagainstthethreatsofsea-levelriseandclimatechange.Kiribatibelievesthatoncedelimitationofourmaritimeboundaryiscom-pletedandsubmittedtotheUNSecretary-GeneralinaccordancewithUNCLOS,maritimeboundarieswouldremainpermanentandshallnotbeaffectedbyclimatechangeandsea-levelrise

Anotherchallenge is maritime securityand piracy. We need an integratedglobal responseto make the oceans safe. Some 90 %of piracy incidents take place in the Gulf of Guinea. Norway is seekingto advance this issue in the Security Council, in close cooperation with the countries in the region