Summary
On Thursday, 20 July, in an afternoon plenary, delegates considered a further revised Chair’s text including: a draft recommendation to the General Assembly on the substantive elements of an international legally binding instrument (ILBI), indicating that the structure and elements reflect the outcome of the PrepCom discussions, and are not exclusive and without prejudice to the position of states during the negotiations; a procedural recommendation to the General Assembly to take a decision, as soon as possible, on convening and intergovernmental conference (IGC) under the UN auspices, to consider the PrepCom’s substantive recommendations and to elaborate the ILBI text under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), with a starting date as early as possible; and two sections, one on elements of the draft ILBI text (section A) and the other on elements that require most attention towards further progress in the development of a draft ILBI text (section B).
Following a round of comments, Chair Duarte acknowledged that the revised draft did not fully reflect all positions; noted concerns expressed by some delegations and those requesting more time to make a decision; and adjourned the session, expressing willingness to exhaust every effort to arrive at consensus, in line with the PrepCom mandate, and inviting delegates to share suggestions with him.
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 the 4th Session of the Preparatory Committee Established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 69/292: Development of an International Legally Binding Instrument 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. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
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L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Barbara Boechat, Brazil; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS
John Brincat, EU
Lois Young, Belize, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Luis Oña Garcés, Ecuador, on behalf of the G-77/China
James Ndirangu Waweru, Kenya
Hina Saeed Baig, Pakistan
Luke Daunivalu, Fiji, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS)
Juan Carlos Mendoza García, Costa Rica
Maxim Musikhin, Russian Federation
Rena Lee, Singapore
Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh, on behalf of the Least Developed
Countries (LDCs)
Ismail Raushan, Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea
Ryan Fung A Loi, Suriname
Ariel Cayanan, the Philippines
Evan Bloom, US
Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico
Mohamed Atlassi, Morocco
Florian Botto, Monaco
Ma Xinmin, China
Narayanane Saravanane, India
Alain Tellier, Canada
EU delegates consulting immediately after the end of the session
Delegates from PSIDS consulting
Delegates in informal consultations
L-R: Elisa Morgera, IISD Reporting Services, in a discussion with John Brincat, EU
L-R: Alistair Graham, Australia, in a conversation with Gerardo Irimia, Panama
L-R: Susan Whelan, Holy See, in a conversation with Julian Jackson, The Pew Charitable Trusts
A delegate looking at IISD web coverage
Delegates from India