Summary
On Friday, the Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) finalized a draft on compliance and continued consideration of the draft regulations on the exploitation of deep seabed minerals in an informal format, with specific regard to the roles of the Council, the Secretary-General, and the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC). The Council then considered a draft President statement with a view to identifying any serious concerns or gaps.
Discussions focused on:
- the need to expand upon the protection of the marine environment and the common heritage of humankind in the draft exploitation regulations;
- a reference to “ensuring commercially viable” regulatory provisions in the guidance provided to the LTC; and
- a balanced allocation of powers among the ISA organs.
ISA Secretary-General Michael Lodge thanked delegates for their constructive and well-considered contributions, and congratulated them for realizing the objective of the informal format to enable the Council to “work hand in hand” with LTC in developing the draft regulations with a view to eventually ensuring their broad acceptability and expeditious adoption. President Myklebust reflected that the Council “achieved a lot,” leaving a massive amount of work for the LTC, that will certainly “know how to do the job.” He gaveled the meeting to a close at 12:41pm.
ENB SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS: For more details, read the Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of the first part of the 24th Annual Session of the International Seabed Authority. The PDF version is available here.
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 1st Part of the 24th Session of the International Seabed Authority. The summary and analysis is now available in HTML and PDF.
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Olav Myklebust, Norway, Council President for the 24th Session
Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General
Gwénaëlle Le Gurun, ISA Secretariat
Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, ISA Legal Counsel and Deputy to the Secretary-General
L-R: Tommo Monthe, Cameroon; Thembile Joyini, South Africa; and Cécile Mballa Eyenga, Cameroon
Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group
Carlos Alberto Michaelsen den Hartog, Brazil
Cécile Mballa Eyenga, Cameroon
Kathy Ann Brown, Jamaica
Gavin Watson, UK
Duncan Currie, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition
Ahmed Farouk, Egypt
Rose Kautoke, Tonga
Juan Manuel Galindo Roldán, Argentina , Argentina
Urs Daniel Engels, Germany
Wini Broadbelt, the Netherlands
Eduardo Bonilla, Chile
Didier Ortolland, France
Gaia Puleston, Australia
Conn Nugent, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Olav Myklebust, Norway, Council President for the 24th Session, gaveled the meeting to a close at 12:41pm
L-R: Cintia Nunes; Marie Bourrel-Mckinnon; Anna Elaise; and Yongsheng Cai, ISA Secretariat
L-R: Lorenzo Lynch; Geraldine Geddes; Jason Dixon; and Ena Harvey, ISA Secretariat
Delegates from Japan and China in conversation
L-R: Tevita Suka Mangisi, Tonga, and Rose Kautoke, Tonga
L-R: Rena Lee; Karen Tan; Ariel Marie Quek; and Lara Kamal, Singapore
L-R: John Kurian; Ananda Ramadass; and Vijay Kumar, India