Highlights and images for 26 February 2019

Jamaica

Summary

Highlights for Tuesday, 26 February 2019

Bird’s eye view of the Council’s deliberations

International Seabed Authority On Tuesday, the Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) continued its deliberations on components of the draft regulations for exploitation of mineral resources in the Area, focusing on:

  • regulatory efficiency, including potential delegation of functions by the Council to the Secretariat;
  • the relationship between the draft exploitation regulations and regional environmental management plans (REMPs); and
  • implementation of the precautionary approach to activities in the Area.
  • Highlights of the day include:

  • general agreement that REMPs should be developed before commercial mining activities commence;
  • in-depth discussion on which functions of the Council could be delegated to the Secretariat to increase efficiency; and
  • agreement on the importance of implementing the precautionary approach/principle to activities in the Area, but ongoing debate about which terminology to use.
  • During lunchtime, a side event organized by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, and the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), focused on developing a benefit-sharing mechanism appropriate for the common heritage of mankind. 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, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from the 1st Part of ISA-25. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, has published a summary and analysis report of the meeting, which is available in HTML and PDF.

    Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera

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    Kathy Ann Brown, Jamaica
    Christopher Brown, ISA Secretariat
    Tetsuya Yoshimoto, Japan
    Enrico Milano, Italy
    Siosiua ‘Utoikamanu and Tevita Suka Mangisi, Tonga
    Didier Ortolland, France
    Nicole Lyas and David Yardley, Australia
    Clement Yow Mulalap, Federated States of Micronesia
    Francisco Javier Bernales, Chile
    ISA delegates in informal consultations
    José María Bosch Bessa, Spain
    Ernesto Malda, Mexico
    Carlos Alberto Michaelsen den Hartog, Brazil, in consultation with Amanda Fraser, Trinidad and Tobago
    Lumka Yengeni, South Africa, Council President for the 25th Session; Thembile Joyini, South Africa; and Gwénaëlle Le Gurun, ISA Secretariat
    L-R: Wini Broadbelt, Laurens J. de Jonge, and Tom Diederen, the Netherlands
    G. Ananda Ramadass and Maruthadu Sudhakar, India
    Li Linlin and Hu Bing, China
    Graham Leung, Nauru
    Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, Norway
    Ingo Narberhaus and Urs Daniel Engels, Germany
    Kristina Gjerde, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
    Malakai Finau, Fiji
    Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, ISA Legal Counsel and Deputy to the Secretary-General, and Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General
    Laurent Assoumou and Major Tano Koffi Bertin, Côte d’Ivoire
    Commodore Emeka Okafor and Nurudeen Abba, Nigeria
    Russell Howorth, Fiji; Alison Swaddling and Hannah Lily, the Commonwealth; and Malakai Finau, Fiji
    The Brazilian delegation in discussions with the ENB team
    Delegates start their day reading the ENB
    Around the Venue
    The garden outside the plenary room
    A view from the venue