Highlights and images for 28 March 2019

Highlights for Thursday, 28 March 2019

Delegates attending the second session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) met in an informal working group on area-based management tools (ABMTs) throughout the day.They considered the following elements related to the process of identifying areas requiring ABMTs:

•    the proposals related to the designation of marine protected areas and other tools;

•    the content of ABMTs;

•    decision-making; and

•    the new instrument’s relationship to measures under other relevant instruments, frameworks and bodies.During the lunch break, three side-events were held on: effective institutional arrangements via the new treaty, presented by Norway; “Mare Geneticum and an Ecosystem Approach: Power, Openness and Sharing,” presented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); and developments and experiences under various processes and lessons for the new instrument, presented by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.In the corridors, some delegates felt strongly that marine protected areas had been prioritized over other area-based management measures. “As far as I can remember, in all the years of discussions that have built up to this document, we have not really considered other ABMTs in detail,” sighed one observer, noting that the NGO community had circulated suggestions in this regard in the past.For extensive details on the day’s negotiations and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from BBNJ IGC 2. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon

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Informal Working Group on Area-Based Management Tools

Plenary view of the informal working group on area-based management tools from the perspective of the dais

Alex Macdonald, New Zealand

Huang Yingni, China

Matthías Pálsson, Iceland

Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway

L-R: Velentina Germani, Stephanie Ierino, and Marco Boccia, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS)

Tetsuya Yoshimoto, Japan

Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland

Dhisadee Chamlongrasdr, Thailand

Landisang Kotaro, Palau

Victor Masson Fiallos, Ecuador

Jamila Malafa, Nigeria

L-R: IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore, consulting with Alice Revell, New Zealand, Facilitator of the informal working group on area-based management tools, with Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS

Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation

Evan Bloom, US

Norlito Eneran, the Philippines

Susan Whelan, Holy See

L-R: John Brincat and Sophie Mirgaux, EU

Kristina Gjerde, International Council on Environmental Law

Melanie Virtue, Convention on Migratory Species

Ghazali Ohorella, International Indian Treaty Council

Gustavo Arévalo Castro, Comisión Permanente del Pacifico Sur (CPPS)

L-R: Fredrik Haag, International Maritime Organization, in conversation with Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, International Seabed Authority

L-R: Siva Thambisetty, Office of the Pacific Oceans Commissioner, with John Brincat, EU

L-R: Khurshed Alam and Tanvir Ahmad Torphder, Bangladesh

L-R: Florian Botto, Monaco; Anca Leroy, EU; Laetitia Highman, Monaco; and Tidiani Couma, Monaco