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Indicator 14.c.1 seeks to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law as reflected in UNCLOS. 

Indicator 14.c.1 measures the number of countries making progress in ratifying, acceding to and implementing UNCLOS, the Part XI Agreement and UNFSA through legal, policy and institutional frameworks.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 14.c.1 measure the number of countries making progress in ratification of, accession to and implementation of ocean-related instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources.

There are two aspects to this indicator:

• the number of countries making progress in ratifying and acceding to ocean-related instruments that implement international law as reflected in UNCLOS for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources, and
•  the number of countries making progress in implementing such instruments through legal, policy and institutional frameworks.

Belize Fisheries Department (FiD)

Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute (CZMAI) 

Belize Fisheries Department (FiD)

Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute (CZMAI) 

Percentage (%)

UNCLOS sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, including the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources. It is a framework instrument, which provides for the development of other instruments that conform to the provisions of the Convention. Therefore, progress in the implementation of international law as reflected in UNCLOS can only be comprehensively measured if progress in the implementation of ocean-related instruments that in turn implement international law as reflected in UNCLOS, is also measured.

Such instruments include, in particular, UNCLOS’s two implementing agreements - the Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 (Part XI Agreement) and the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (UNFSA).

N/A

Data is disaggregated into two scores per country – one score for ratification of or accession to relevant instruments, and one score for implementation of relevant instruments.

The indicator measures the number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting and implementing UNCLOS and it's two implementing agreements through legal, policy and institutional frameworks.

• This measurement of progress is computed on the basis of countries’ responses to the questionnaire, which contains three questions with respect to each of the three instruments. Countries will be invited to respond to questions that relate to the ratification of or accession to UNCLOS and its two implementing agreements (Questions 1.1, 2.1 and 3.1).
• They are coded with simple “Yes/No” answers, with a score of “1” for “Yes” and “0” for “No”. Each country’s overall score for ratification or acceptance of these instruments will, therefore, be a number between 0 and 3, which will be reported as a percentage (with “100” representing a score of “3”, and “0” representing a score of “0”).
• Countries will also be invited to respond to questions which relate to the implementation of UNCLOS and it's two implementing agreements through legal frameworks (Questions 1.2, 2.2 and 3.2) by evaluating their own national implementation and assigning a score of between 1 and 9 – with “1” being “not at all” and “9” being “fully” – or indicating that the question of implementation is not applicable (“N/A”).
• The scoring methodology regarding implementation is the total of the scores reported by States regarding implementation through legal frameworks for UNCLOS and each of its two implementing agreements (in response to Questions 1.2, 2.2 and 3.2), added to the relevant scores achieved regarding implementation through national policy and/or national institutions for UNCLOS and each of its implementing agreements (in respect to Questions 1.3, 2.3 and 3.3). Pursuant to this scoring methodology, each State could achieve a maximum score of 30 points for implementation. These scores will be reported as a percentage (with 100 representing an average score of 30, 80 represents an average score of 24, and so on). “N/A” responses will not be included as part of the overall score calculation.

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N/A

Implementation of UNCLOS and its implementing agreements through legal frameworks (for example, through national legislation or executive acts), as well as policy and institutional frameworks, will be scored on the basis of self-analysis by countries of the extent of implementation. Countries will be invited to the questionnaire to share information regarding their methods of implementation.

All the metadata shown in this document was gathered from United Nation Statistics Division. The metadata was extracted from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.