In its resolution 72/249 of 24 December 2017, the General Assembly decided to convene an Intergovernmental Conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, to consider the recommendations of the Preparatory Committee established by resolution 69/292 of 19 June 2015 on the elements and to elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, with a view to developing the instrument as soon as possible.

In accordance with resolution 72/249, the Conference held a three-day organizational meeting in New York, from 16 to 18 April 2018, to discuss organizational matters, including the process for the preparation of the zero draft of the instrument.

The first session was convened from 4 to 17 September 2018, the second session from 25 March to 5 April 2019 and the third session from 19 to 30 August 2019. The fourth session, which was postponed by decisions 74/543 and 75/570 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, was convened from 7 to 18 March 2022. A fifth session of the Conference was convened from 15 to 26 August 2022 pursuant to General Assembly decision 76/564 (available as A/76/L.46). On the last day of that session, the Conference, in considering the way forward, decided to suspend the fifth session and resume it at a later date to be determined. Pursuant to resolution 77/248 of the General Assembly, the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Conference met from 20 February to 3 March 2023.  At the end of that meeting, the Conference decided to resume at a later date with a view to adopting the agreement. In this connection, the General Assembly, in its decision 77/556 of 18 April 2023 (currently available as document A/77/L.62), requested the Secretary-General to convene a further resumed fifth session of the conference on 19 and 20 June 2023, tentatively, or on a date to be determined in consultation with the President of the conference. Accordingly, the further resumed fifth session was held at UN Headquarters in New York on 19 and 20 June 2023. On 19 June 2023, the Conference adopted, by consensus, the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (A/CONF.232/2023/4). The Conference was closed on 20 June 2023.