Highlights and images for 19 February 2020

On Wednesday, the Council of the International Seabed Authority convened for the third day of the first part of its 26th session (ISA-26) in Kingston, Jamaica. Delegates discussed aspects related to the draft exploitation regulations, specifically proposals related to regional environmental management plans (REMPs). The Council also discussed issues relating to the election of members of the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC).In discussions on the former, delegates considered proposals tabled by Germany, the Netherlands, and Costa Rica on a procedure for the development, approval and review of REMPs, and on a standardized approach for REMPs. While welcoming the proposals, many raised concerns over the implications of the proposed procedure, particularly the role and mandate of a new expert committee to deal specifically with REMPs. They were also concerned about a perceived duplication of efforts, with several pointing out the fact that the LTC is already working to address this issue.In the afternoon, discussions on the membership of the LTC took center stage. Vladislav Kurbatskiy (Russian Federation), who served as facilitator for the closed-door discussions on the issue, reported that the informal group could not agree on the issue of equitable geographical balance. Still unable to agree on this issue in the informal plenary, the meeting was suspended to allow for closed-door negotiations to resume. These consultations resulted in delegates agreeing to allow Facilitator Kurbatskiy to prepare a draft decision for consideration on Thursday morning.Highlights of the day included:

• discussions on the development, approval and review of REMPs;
• discussions on a proposed template for REMPs; and
• extended informal and closed-door discussions on the composition of the LTC.

At lunchtime, a side event was organized by the Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), titled “NORI Environmental Programme Update.”For more details on the day’s events and to learn 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 1st Part of ISA-26. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has publish a summary and analysis report in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera

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L-R: Ingo Narberhaus, Urs Daniel Engels, and Bernd von Münchow-Pohl, Germany

Esther Salamanca Aguado, Spain

Tom Diederen, the Netherlands

Craig Strong and Raijeli Taga, Fiji

Luke Tang, Singapore

Patricio Ureña Palacio, Argentina

Marzia Rovere and Daniele Bosio, Italy

Deryck Murray, Trinidad and Tobago

Gina Guillén Grillo, Costa Rica

Seoyeon Cho and Young Lee, Republic of Korea

Maila Paisano Guilhon e Sá, Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI)

Clement Yow Mulalap, Federated States of Micronesia

Andrew McMaster and Kenneth Wong, Canada

Pradeep Singh, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)

Kate Gorove and Greg O’Brien, US

Juan José González Mijares and Anais Vivanco, Mexico

Kathy-Ann Brown, Jamaica, becomes the Acting Council President for the 26th session.

Delegates from China, Bangladesh, and India discuss informally.

Janet Olisa, Nigeria, and Cécile Mballa Eyenga, Cameroon

L-R: Tom Diederen, the Netherlands; Rena Lee, Singapore; and Urs Daniel Engels, Germany

L-R: Robert Heydon, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), and Jason Smith and Corey McLachlan, DeepGreen

L-R: Ingo Narberhaus and Hans-Peter Damian, Germany; Sabine Gollner, the Netherlands; and Julian Wilckens, Germany

L-R: Nathaniel Khng, Luke Tang, Rena Lee, and Charine Yong, Singapore

Jihyun Lee, ISA Secretariat, and Young Lee, Republic of Korea

L-R: Irina Ponomareva, Georgy Cherkashov, and Andrey Gagelgants, Russian Federation

Delegates from Jamaica

Around the Venue