Highlights and images for 18 July 2019

Jamaica

Summary

Highlights for Thursday, 18 July 2019

Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General, in consultations with delegates from the Latin American and the Caribbean region

On Thursday, the Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) continued its deliberations on the report of the Chair of the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC). It also addressed the report of the Special Representative for the Enterprise, focusing on ways to operationalize the Enterprise.Highlights of the day included:

  • an interesting discussion on the timeline for finalizing the draft exploitation regulations, with many Council members prioritizing quality over deadlines;
  • exchange of ideas on a mechanism for an independent review of environmental plans;
  • an in-depth discussion on ways to operationalize the Enterprise, including progress on joint venture proposals;
  • consideration of preferences regarding the extension of the mandate of the Special Representative and the appointment of an interim director general; and
  • informal discussions on the way forward for the draft exploitation regulations, with some members requesting further work by the LTC and others opining that the Commission has finalized its work.
  • At lunchtime, a side event was organized by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI) under the title “New Science in the Area.” For more details on the day’s events and to hear what delegates said in the breezeways, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).

    IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from the 2nd Part of ISA-25. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, has published a summary and analysis from the meeting, which is now available in HTML and PDF.

    Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera

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    Lumka Yengeni, South Africa, Council President for the 25th Session
    Michelle Walker, Jamaica, Chair of the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC)
    Soh Leng Wan, Singapore
    Ntokozo Ngcwabe, South Africa
    Julian Wilckens and Urs Daniel Engels, Germany
    Graham Leung, Nauru
    Nicole Lyas and Emily Johnson, Australia
    Gavin Watson, UK
    Godfrey Rolle, The Bahamas
    Kristina Gjerde, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
    Diva Amon, Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI)
    Luke Roughton, New Zealand
    Eden Charles, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the ISA for the Enterprise
    Delegates engage in informal consultations
    Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General, and Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, Norway
    Pradeep Singh, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), and Hans-Peter Damian, Germany
    L-R: Margaret Purdasy, UK; Rena Lee, Singapore; and Lowri Mai Griffiths, UK
    Nicole Lyas (left) and Emily Johnson (right), Australia, confer with Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, ISA Legal Counsel and Deputy to the Secretary-General
    Delegates share a laugh in between sessions
    Xue Guifang, Center for Polar and Deep Ocean Development, and Philomène Verlaan, International Marine Minerals Society (IMMS)
    Gesa Seeger, Die Zeit, interviews Clement Yow Mulalap, Federated States of Micronesia
    Civil society representatives
    L-R: Laré Penn, Franck Kokou Kpayedo, and John Fintakpa Lamega, Togo
    The Japanese delegation at the 2nd Part of ISA-25
    Participants check the mineragenic map of the world ocean
    Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General, reviews the history of the law of the sea