Negotiating Bloc
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Highlights and images for 2 September 2016
2nd Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
On Friday, 2 September, the second session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom 2) on the elements of a draft text of an international legally binding instrument under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) convened in plenary throughout the day.
In the morning, plenary continued deliberations of possible areas of convergence and areas for further discussion on marine genetic resources, including benefit-sharing. Following an oral report by John Adank (New Zealand), facilitator of the informal working group on area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, plenary discussed possible areas of convergence and areas for further discussion, including on definitions, principles and approaches, and governance.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports and a summary and analysis report in English and French from the 2nd 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.”
Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
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Gina Guillén-Grillo and Rolando Castro, Costa Rica
Martijn Peijs and Sidney Kemble, the Netherlands
James Ndirangu Waweru, Kenya, with Thembile Joyini, South Africa
Christian Prip, Fridtjof Nansen Institute, and Kimo Goree, Vice-President, IISD
Wini Broadbelt and René Lefeber, the Netherlands
John Brincat, EU, with Gina Guillén-Grillo, Costa Rica
Margo Deiye, Nauru, for Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS)
Sesselja Sigurðardóttir, Iceland
Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway
Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea
John Adank, New Zealand, facilitator of the informal working group on area-based management tools
Alistair Graham, Australia, and Jessica Battle, WWF
Martin Zvachula, Federated States of Micronesia, reading the ENB
Anca Leroy, EU, with Andreas Lunn, Denmark
The African Group conferring
From L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); Chair Eden Charles, Trinidad and Tobago; Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS; and Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS
Ignacio Cazaña, Paraguay
Chair Eden Charles, Trinidad and Tobago
Maria Pilikou, Cyprus
Zentaro Naganuma, Japan
Prim Masrinuan, Thailand for the Group of 77 and China
Xinmin Ma, China
Janine Coye-Felson, Belize
Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh
John Brincat, EU
Maruthadu Sudhakar, India
Michael Bliss, Australia
Participants consulting
Around the Venue
Non-Violence, by Fredrik Reuterswärd
Sphere Within a Sphere, by Arnaldo Pomodoro
A view of the UN headquarters from the rose garden
Summary report 26 August – 9 September 2016
2nd Session of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee
Highlights and images for 18 July 2016
HLPF 2016
Following the opening of the Ministerial Segment on Monday, participants at the 2016 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) discussed “Main messages from first HLPF week: our starting point.” This was followed by keynote speeches and panel discussions related to the meeting’s theme of “Ensuring that no one is left behind,” on: “Reaching the most vulnerable;” “Challenges of countries in special situations;” and “Unlocking means of implementation (MOI) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and creating an enabling environment.” A general debate took place at the end of the day.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided daily reports, daily web coverage and a summary and analysis from HLPF 2016, which is available in HTML and PDF format.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth
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Opening of the Ministerial Segment
Delegates gather for the opening of the Ministerial Segment
Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN
Oh Joon, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN and President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
Jürg Lauber, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN and Vice
President of ECOSOC
Héctor Alejandro Palma Cerna, Deputy Permanent Representative of Honduras to the UN and Vice President of ECOSOC
Mogens Lykketoft, President of
the UN General Assembly
Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Vice President of Viet Nam
Ensuring that no one is left behind: reaching the most vulnerable
Panel speakers during the session
Hugo Roger Martínez Bonilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs, El Salvador
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany
Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Kate Gilmore, Deputy High
Commissioner for Human Rights
Md. Shahidul Haque, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
Christian Friis Bach, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Delegates watch proceedings from the gallery
Ensuring that no one is left behind: challenges of countries in special situations
View of the dais during the session
Álvaro García, Office of Planning and Budget of the Presidency, Uruguay
Gyan Chandra Acharya, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Dame Meg Taylor, Secretary-General, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
Helen Clark, Administrator,
UN Development Programme (UNDP)
Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman,
2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Karina Gould, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development, Canada
Ricardo Cardona, Minister of Social Development, Honduras
Shamshad Akhtar, Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Daniel Mensinga, Major Group for Children and Youth
Ensuring that no one is left behind: unlocking the means of implementation for
the Sustainable Development Goals and creating an enabling environment
View of the dais during the session
Michelle Muschett, Vice Minister of Social Development, Panama
Ardalan Shekarabi, Minister for Public Administration, Sweden
Axel Bertuch-Samuels,
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Vaughan Turekian,
Advisor to the US Secretary of State
Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development
Douglas Frantz, Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group
Representatives from the Women's Major Group hold up pictures of environmental and human rights activists who have been killed, demonstrating the need to create an enabling environment for stakeholder participation
General Debate
Delegates participate in a general debate
Virachai Plasai, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the UN, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China
Juan Temístocles Montás, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Dominician Republic, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
Bernard Kamphasa, Zambia, speaking
on behalf of the LLDCs
Eden Charles, Deputy Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the UN, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Jiko Fatafehi Luveni, Fiji, speaking on behalf of the Group of Pacific SIDS
Mohammed Khaled Khiari, Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the UN, speaking on behalf of the African Group
Mohammed Maziad Al Tuwaijri,
Vice-Minister of Economy and Planning, Saudi Arabia
Celebrating Nelson Mandela Day
A special event is held in the ECOSOC Chamber to commemorate "Mandela Day"
Delegates stand to observe a moment of silence to honor Nelson Mandela and his contribution to freedom and justice in the world
Stevie Wonder, UN Messenger of Peace
Around the Venue
Delegates gather for the start of the Ministerial Segment
Delegates greet each other before the start of plenary
Delegates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Delegates from South Africa
Delegates speak informally
Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Vice-President of Viet Nam, participate in
an event "Scream from Nature" that emphasized the importance of environmental protection
Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and
Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Vice-President of Viet Nam,
stand with children during the event
Musical performance by fifth graders from the
Special Music School, New York
Around the UN Headquarters
Daily report for 18 July 2016
HLPF 2016
Daily report for 18 July 2016
3rd Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (ExMOP 3) and Associated Meetings
Summary report 15–23 July 2016
3rd Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol (ExMOP 3) and Associated Meetings
Highlights and images for 13 June 2016
ICP-17
The seventeenth meeting of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP-17) opened on 13 June 2016 at the UN Headquarters in New York, under the theme: “Marine debris, plastics and microplastics.” In the morning, delegates heard opening remarks from: Co-Chair Amb. Gustavo Meza-Cuadra; Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel; Lenni Montiel, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), on behalf of Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; and Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, UN Office of Legal Affairs (UNDOALOS). Statements by countries and regional groups followed.
In the afternoon, Co-Chair Amb. Nicholas Emiliou invited delegates to participate in a discussion panel on “the environmental, social and economic dimensions of marine debris, plastics and microplastics and progress made in preventing, reducing and controlling pollution from marine debris, plastics and microplastics.” Presentations were given on: insights from the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) report on microplastics; insights from the World Ocean Assessment; an overview of land-based sources of marine debris; marine pollution originating from purse seine and longline fishing vessel operations in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean; collection of ship waste in Belgian seaports; and the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) work to address marine debris, plastics and microplastics.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary and analysis report from the 17th Meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP-17) - Marine Debris, Plastics and Microplastics. Our summary is available in HTML and PDF format.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon
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Opening Plenary
L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); Lenni Montiel, Assistant-Secretary-General for Economic Development,
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); and Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel
Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel
Co-Chair Amb. Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Peru
Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS
Lenni Montiel, Assistant-Secretary-General for Economic
Development,
DESA
L-R: Co-Chair Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Peru; Alice
Hicuburundi, Secretary, ICP-17; Charlotte Salpin, Deputy Secretary, ICP-17; and
Dmitry Gonchar, UNDOALOS
Mahlatse Mminele, South Africa, on behalf of the African Group
Chulamanee Chartsuwan, Thailand, on behalf of G-77/China
Sidney Kemble, EU
Ahmed Sareer, Maldives, on behalf of Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of Pacific SIDS
Florian Botto, Monaco
L-R: Prim Masrinuan, Thailand, in a conversation with Joseph Appiott, Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD)
Sae Horikawa, Japan
Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation
Lizanne Aching, Trinidad and Tobago
John Arbogast, US
Natalie Morris-Sharma, Singapore
Jo Høvik, Norway
Delegates from Indonesia
Presentations
L-R: Co-Chairs Amb. Nicholas Emiliou, Cyprus, and Amb. Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Peru
Slide presentation of Lorna Inniss, Coordinator, UNEP, Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit, showing the various marine litter vortices in our oceans
Slide presentation of Jenna Jambeck, Associate Professor, College of Engineering, University of Georgia, showing plastic wastes from land into the ocean
Jenna Jambeck, Associate Professor, College of Engineering, University of Georgia
Lorna Inniss, Coordinator, UNEP, Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit
Kelly Richardson, Former Marine Debris Consultant, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)
Slide presentation of Kelly Richardson, Former Marine Debris Consultant, SPREP, showing the effects of
land-based litter to the ocean environment
Stefan Micallef, Director, Marine Environment Division, IMO
Peter Van den Dries, Policy Advisor, Flemish Waste Agency
Gina Guillén-Grillo, Costa Rica
Peni Suveinakama, Fiji
Christine Prekezes, HELMEPA
Daily report for 8–9 June 2016
Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Connecting Smallholders to Markets
Summary report 30 May – 2 June 2016
10th Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG10)