Least Developed Countries

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. Photos by IISD/ENB | Franz Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page 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

On Wednesday, 19 July, delegates met in plenary in the morning and in the early afternoon to continue consideration of a revised Chair’s text containing draft recommendations to the UN General Assembly, focusing on the following draft elements of an international legally binding instrument (ILBI): environmental impact assessments, capacity building and technology transfer (CB&TT), institutional arrangements, and final clauses. Plenary also considered: a chapeau to the draft elements of the ILBI; and a procedural recommendation calling on the UN General Assembly to convene an intergovernmental conference as soon as possible, with a possible starting date of 2018. In the afternoon, Chair Duarte held informal closed consultations on: the ILBI relationships with other legal instruments and relevant bodies; international cooperation; access to marine genetic resources (MGRs), types of benefits to be shared, IPRs and monitoring of MGR utilization; relationships between on area-based management tools and measures under other instruments, and adjacency; strategic environmental assessments; terms for technology transfer, and funding for CB&TT; institutional arrangements; financing; responsibility and liability; and a procedural recommendation to the General Assembly. 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. Photos by IISD/ENB | Franz Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS Wini Broadbelt, EU Lizanne Aching, Trinidad and Tobago Larisa Chernysheva, Russian Federation Jung-Eun Kim, Republic of Korea Alice Revell, New Zealand Juliette Babb-Riley, Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Zakieh Taghizadeh, Iran Audrey Naana Abayena, Ghana Diedre Mills, Jamaica, on behalf of CARICOM María Alejandrina Sande, Uruguay, making an intervention Edgar Gutiérrez Espeleta, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica Jean Kenfack, Cameroon Teresa Cruz Sardiñas, Cuba Michael Googan, Australia Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh, on behalf of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Alejandro Alday, Mexico Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group Leonito Bacalando Jr., Federated States of Micronesia Ma Xinmin, China Luis Oña Garcés, Ecuador, on behalf of the G-77/China Ariel Cayanan, the Philippines Matthías Pálsson, Iceland John Fintakpa Lamega, Togo Evan Bloom, US View of the informal consultations L-R: Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, in a conversation with Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation L-R: Hiba Obaid Darwish Alsheihi, Hiba AlSaleh, and Hassina Ali, United Arab Emirates Delegates from the Philippines

The opening session of the High-level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Ministerial Segment of the 2017 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) took place on Monday morning. Reporting by Ministerial Chairs on the Regional Forums on Sustainable Development, and two sessions on Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), followed. In the afternoon, the UN Secretary-General’s report on the theme of the ECOSOC 2017 session (“Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions through promoting sustainable development, expanding opportunities and addressing related challenges”), and the report on the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) were presented, followed by a general debate. In parallel, an additional two sessions on VNRs took place. In total, 12 countries presented VNRs on Monday: Brazil, Luxembourg, Nepal, Monaco, Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Kenya, the Netherlands, Chile, and Malaysia. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports from HLPF 2017 and also produced a summary and analysis report, which is available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Opening of the High-Level Segment Plenary is full to capacity as the High-level Segment begins Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) UN Secretary-General António Guterres Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava, Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the UN, and President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Jeffrey Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University Delegates applaud the keynote speakers Marie Chatardová, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UN, and Vice President of ECOSOC Jürgen Schulz, Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN, and Vice President of ECOSOC Cristián Barros Melet, Permanent Representative of Chile to the UN, and Vice President of ECOSOC Nabeel Munir, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, and Vice President of ECOSOC View of plenary from the dais Reporting by Ministerial Chairs on the Regional Forums on Sustainable Development View of the dais during the session Laurence Monnoyer-Smith, Commissioner-General for Sustainable Development, Ministry of Environment, Energy and the Sea, France Lahcen Daoudi, Minister of General Affairs and Governance, Morocco Francisco Guzmán Ortiz, Head of the Office of the President, Mexico Rosemarie Edillon, Undersecretary for Planning and Policy, National Economic and Development Authority, the Philippines Gervais Meatchi, Director of Planning and Development, Togo Presentation of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) 12 countries present their VNRs throughout the day Romain Schneider, Minister for Development, Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, and Carole Dieschbourg, Minister of Environment, Luxembourg Adil Najam, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University Min Bahadur Shrestha, Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission, Nepal Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany  José Antônio Marcondes de Carvalho, Ministry of Environment, Energy, Science, and Technology, Brazil Bambang Brodjonegoro, Minister of National Development Planning, Indonesia Serge Telle, Minister of State, Monaco Fumio Kishida, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Japan Abul Kalam Azad, Principal SDG Coordinator, Prime Minister's Office, Bangladesh Lilianne Plouman, Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, the Netherlands Olga Marta Sánchez Oviedo, Minister of Planning and Economic Policy, Costa Rica Marcos Barraza, Minister of Social Development, Chile Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Malaysia Irungu Nyakera, Ministry of Devolution and Planning, Kenya High-Level General Debate Delegates gather in the Trusteeship Council for the High-level debate Marie Chatardová, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UN, and Vice President of ECOSOC Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Neven Mimica, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development José Antonio Ocampo, Chair of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) Luck Mulusa, Minister of National Development Planning, Zambia, speaking on behalf of landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) Alenka Smerkolj, Minister without portfolio responsible for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion, Slovenia Andrés Mideros, National Secretary of Planning and Development, Ecuador, speaking on behalf of the G-77/China Miguel Ángel Moir Sandoval, Minister of Planning, Guatemala Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thailand Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, Sri Lanka, speaking on behalf of the Group of 15 Kęstutis Navickas, Minister of Environment, Lithuania Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs, South Africa Around the Venue Jeffrey Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, speaks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Peter Thomson, President of the UNGA Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General, DESA UN Secretary-General António Guterres Juan José Gómez Camacho, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Marie Chatardová, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UN, and Vice President of ECOSOC, with Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava, Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the UN, and President of ECOSOC Carole Dieschbourg, Minister of Environment, Luxembourg Delegates stand at the back of plenary Security around the venue Zaheer Fakir, South Africa, speaks with Jeffrey Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University Abdullah Abu Shawesh, State of Palestine Martijn Visser and Max van Deursen, Youth Representatives for Sustainable Development, the Netherlands Delegates between sessions Around the UN Headquarters