Statement delivered by H.E. Ms. Anna Jóhannsdóttir,
Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations
General Assembly 80th session: Oceans and law of the sea resolutions
8 December, 2025

Mr. President, Excellencies.

The Ocean sustains us. This is particularly true for Iceland, a coastal and fishing state in the North Atlantic. The Ocean has always been central to our identity, prosperity, and security. With time, we have come to better understand just how important the Ocean is to all life on our unique blue planet.

Human-made changes to the climate and marine environment now threaten the systems we all rely on. In a world facing accelerating climate impacts, biodiversity loss, and growing pressures on the marine environment, we must all recommit to cooperation, science-based decision-making, and the rule of law.

Iceland is particularly pleased that the General Assembly, in the oceans and law of the sea resolution it is adopting today, sets out its concern regarding the probability of a slowdown of ocean circulation, in particular of the „AMOC“, or the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The impacts on regional weather patterns are further highlighted, as is the need for further scientific research on large-scale ocean circulation patterns. AMOC is a vast ocean circulation that moves heat northward and shapes weather patterns across Europe and beyond. It is a major climate system, one which new research suggests is not only gradually weakening, but is at risk of large, abrupt change. Its destabilization could affect not only Iceland, but the whole region, and is on my government’s agenda as a matter of national security. 

Mr. President.

Iceland continues to reaffirm its unwavering support for the integrity and universality of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, that sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out.

The youngest member of the UNCLOS family is the agreement commonly referred to as the BBNJ Agreement. Iceland has signed and is in the final stages of ratifying the Agreement, as Iceland´s Parliament, Althingi – deliberates the implementing legislation. We look very much forward to joining the growing number of States Parties as soon as possible. Effective implementation will be key, and Iceland will remain a constructive partner as we move towards the first COP meeting of BBNJ.

Mr. President.

Iceland welcomes this year’s landmark advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change, including its valuable clarification of the role of UNCLOS. The dialogue with last year’s advisory opinion given by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is encouraging. Similarly, we commend the International Law Commission for its final report on the legal aspects of sea-level rise, including Statehood, baselines, and maritime entitlements. These developments strengthen our shared understanding, and we can build on them on the road ahead. We must all be guided by empathy for those that have, are, or will be, badly affected by sea-level rise - whilst having done the least to cause it. 

Mr. President, 

This year was a year of the Ocean in many ways, not least due to the excellent UN Ocean Conference hosted by France and Costa Rica in Nice. 

Allow me also to highlight the importance of the Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea. Iceland was honoured to co-chair the Process in 2025 with Barbados, and looks forward to co-chairing again in 2026 with Mauritius. The theme for 2026, “Marine ecosystem restoration”, is both timely and urgent, particularly as the world seeks to reverse biodiversity loss and restore degraded marine habitats. In 2027, the ICP will address “Financing for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean,” another critical topic that speaks to the need for meaningful, predictable, and accessible resources to support ocean action. SDG14 remains one of the most underfunded Sustainable Development Goals, and yet there is so much to gain by funding it.

Iceland remains firmly committed to the ICP as a unique and invaluable forum for focused, inclusive dialogue among States and stakeholders. At the same time, as a Member State with limited resources, we would be interested in discussing how best to achieve efficiency in our work when ICP coincides with a year of a UN Ocean conference, like it did this year. On that note, Iceland is very much looking forward to UNOC in 2028, co-hosted by Chile and the Republic of Korea. 

Mr. President, 

Today, the General Assembly is adopting a set of resolutions on the oceans and law of the sea. One of them is often referred to as the Omnibus resolution. Iceland wishes to offer a clear explanation of its vote on the amendment proposal to a paragraph of this highly important resolution.

Iceland plans to abstain, and this was not an easy decision. We made it abundantly clear throughout negotiations that Iceland agrees with the proponent, Brazil, on the substance. We are grateful to Brazil for her important role as host of the climate COP in Belém and would have been more than happy to welcome the reference to it in the resolution. We sincerely wish that this could have been the case during negotiations, like in previous years. We regret that, despite great effort towards finding a suitable compromise – which appeared to be within reach in the final hours - this ultimately turned out to be impossible.

Iceland attaches the highest importance to maintaining consensus-based negotiations on the oceans and law of the sea Omnibus resolution. The text of this resolution reflects years of painstaking negotiations and embodies a delicate balance. There is too much at stake—including agreed language on climate change and the marine environment—to risk reopening the text and undermining that balance. The General Assembly never votes on individual paragraphs of this resolution, which consists of hundreds of paragraphs. We therefore felt compelled to prioritise the preservation of consensus. Iceland remains grateful for the continued leadership of Singapore and for the tireless efforts of the coordinator. They have our full and unwavering support in safeguarding the General Assembly consensus on this essential resolution. The same applies to Norway and its important leadership for the annual sustainable fisheries resolution.

Mr. President,

Iceland stands ready to work with all partners to advance the conservation, restoration and, importantly, sustainable use of the Ocean.

I thank you.