Pacific Small Island Developing States

On Tuesday, 4 April, delegates to the third session of the Preparatory Committee on the elements of a draft text of an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (PrepCom 3) convened in plenary in the morning and in the afternoon, with the informal working group on cross-cutting issues completing its work in the morning. In the morning, Amb. Peter Thomson (Fiji), UN General Assembly President, encouraged delegates to bring cooperation, flexibility and determination to the BBNJ process and to participate in the upcoming Oceans Conference, stressing the importance of the BBNJ process in oceans stewardship. In the afternoon, plenary further discussed the scope of benefit-sharing from marine genetic resources, as well as access and benefit-sharing modalities. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has providing daily web coverage, daily reports and a summary and analysis report from the 3rd 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.” Our summary and analysis report is 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 President of the UN General Assembly, Amb. Peter Thomson, Fiji President of the UN General Assembly, Amb. Peter Thomson, Fiji Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); President of the UN General Assembly, Amb. Peter Thomson, Fiji; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Daniela Diz, WWF Peni Suveinakama, Fiji Susan Whelan, Holy See Alain Tellier, Canada Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway Driss Meski, Executive Secretary, International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Veronika Frank, Greenpeace International on behalf of the High Seas Alliance Evan Bloom, US Rolando Castro, Costa Rica Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico José Luis Fernández Valoni, Argentina Janine Coye-Felson, Belize, Facilitator of the informal working group on marine genetic resources Riena Dwi Astuty, Indonesia María Claudia Vélez Crismatt, Colombia Ma Xinmin, China Alice Revell, New Zealand Maruthadu Sudhakar, India Metod Špaček, EU Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea Rishy Bukoree, Mauritius Hiroko Muraki Gottlieb, IUCN Maria Rowena Romana-Eguia, the Philippines L-R: President of the UN General Assembly, Amb. Peter Thomson, Fiji, in conversation with Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil L-R: Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation, in consultation with Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico Delegates from Latin America consulting Amb. Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the UN and Special Envoy on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in conversation with delegates from Kenya

On Monday, 3 April, delegates to the third session of the Preparatory Committee on the elements of a draft text of an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (PrepCom 3) convened in the informal working group on capacity building and technology transfer (CB&TT) in the morning. The informal working group on cross-cutting issues, facilitated by Chair Sobral Duarte, met for the rest of the day, addressing the scope of a new legally binding instrument, its relationship with other instruments and its possible institutional arrangements. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has providing daily web coverage, daily reports and a summary and analysis report from the 3rd 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.” Our summary and analysis report is 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, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); Rena Lee, Singapore, Facilitator of the informal working group on capacity building and transfer of marine technology; and Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS Peter Haugan, Chair of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group Juliette Babb-Riley, Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Shara Duncan, Costa Rica Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Lucía Raffin, Argentina Carl Grainger, EU Angel Horna, Peru Evan Bloom, US Takehiro Nakamura, UN Environment Kristina Gjerde, IUCN Blaise Kuemlangan, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Alain Tellier, Canada Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway Rogelio Villanueva Jr., the Philippines Peni Suveinakama, Fiji Diedre Mills, Jamaica L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS Efraín Baus Palacios, Ecuador, for the G-77/China Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico Djamchid Momtaz, Iran Ramalingam Kirubagaran, India Larisa Chernysheva, Russian Federation Daniela Diz, WWF Delegates from Spain consulting Leonito Bacalando Jr., Federated States of Micronesia, consulting with the Philippines L-R: John Brincat, EU; Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico; and Gina Guillén-Grillo, Costa Rica L-R: Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation, in conversation with Evan Bloom, US Delegates from the Philippines

On Friday, 31 March, delegates to the third session of the Preparatory Committee on the elements of a draft text of an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (PrepCom 3) convened in the informal working group on capacity building and technology transfer throughout the day. Discussions focused on: scope, principles and modalities of capacity building and technology transfer; links with other elements of a new legally binding instrument; intellectual property rights; a clearinghouse mechanism; funding; and monitoring and review. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has providing daily web coverage, daily reports and a summary and analysis report from the 3rd 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.” Our summary and analysis report is 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 Rena Lee, Singapore, Facilitator of the informal working group on capacity building and transfer of marine technology Juliette Babb-Riley, Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Luis Oña Garcés, Ecuador, on behalf of the G-77/China Ismail Raushan Zahir, Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Marc Richir, EU Christopher Katota, Zambia, on behalf of Landlocked Developing Countries Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh Dhisadee Chamlongrasdr, Thailand Thembile Joyini, South Africa Christoph Reusser, Switzerland Tevita Suka Mangisi, Tonga Zentaro Naganuma, Japan Hina Saeed Baig, Pakistan Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway Linlin Li, China Cristóbal Hernández Castillo, Chile Michael Lodge, Secretary-General, International Seabed Authority (ISA), delivering his intervention Yolannie Cerrato, Honduras Kate Neilson, New Zealand Siai Taylor, Cook Islands Carlos Garcia Reyes, Guatemala Duncan Currie, Greenpeace International Michael Lodge, Secretary-General, ISA L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); Rena Lee, Singapore, Facilitator of the informal working group on capacity building and transfer of marine technology; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; Vita Onwuasoanya, UNDOALOS; and Angela Chung, UNDOALOS Thembile Joyini, South Africa, consulting with Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria Michael Googan, Australia, in conversation with delegates from Norway Delegates from GRULAC in informal consultations

On Monday, 27 March, the third session of the Preparatory Committee established by the UN General Assembly in 2015 to make recommendations 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 (PrepCom 3) convened in plenary in the morning, chaired by Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil. During the brief session, delegates heard from Stephen Mathias, Assistant Secretary-General, Office of Legal Affairs, on progress on marine issues relating to the work of the PrepCom. Delegates then met in an informal working group on marine genetic resources (MGRs) including questions on the sharing of benefits, which met for the rest of the day, facilitated by Janine Coye-Felson, Belize. Considerations on MGRs will continue on Tuesday, 28 March. Side events also took place over lunchtime on experiences of benefit-sharing regimes and their potential relevance to MGRs and capacity building in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), and options for using area-based planning tools in ABNJ. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has providing daily web coverage, daily reports and a summary and analysis report from the 3rd 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.” Our summary and analysis report is 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 View of the opening session chaired by Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel, on behalf of UN Secretary-General António Guterres Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil Juliette Babb-Riley, Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ali Nasimfar, Iran Ismail Raushan Zahir, Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Drusila Esther Bayate, the Philippines Luis Oña Garcés, Ecuador, on behalf of the G-77/China Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS View of the room of PrepCom 3 from the perspective of the dais Janine Coye-Felson, Belize, Facilitator of the informal working group on marine genetic resources Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Kamal Shali Ghimire, Nepal Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico Alain Tellier, Canada José Luis Fernández Valoni, Argentina Haryo Budi Nugroho, Indonesia Matthías Pálsson, Iceland Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway Rena Lee, Singapore Evan Bloom, US Jihyun Lee and Joseph Appiott, Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat Thembile Joyini, South Africa, consulting with Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria Delegates from the African Group consulting