UN General Assembly
2013

for international efforts, ensuring a more efficient and coherent link between the various processes in the area of sustainable development and poverty eradication. In the context of the outcome of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, I would like to stress the importance of progress on the issue of oceans, which is a crucial matter for a maritime country like Portugal. We welcome Member States’ commitment to discussing the issue of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction. In this context, Portugal is strongly in favour of the negotiation and adoption of an international instrument in the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Reforms and institutional innovations such as those I have just mentioned represent important changes in the architecture of the United Nations, adapting and preparing it for new times and new challenges. However, the reform of our Organization will never be complete without Security Council reform, including of its working methods and, above all, of its composition.