Small Island Developing States

  Delegates from Canada, Norway, Australia, and Japan in discussion On Friday, 14 September, the plenary of the first session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) 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 (ABNJ) heard reports from Informal Working Groups on: capacity building and technology transfer (CB&TT); area-based management tools (ABMTs); environmental impact assessments (EIAs); and marine genetic resources (MGRs), including questions on benefit-sharing. Plenary also discussed the way forward. 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 reports and daily web coverage from BBNJ IGC 1. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary and analysis report from the meeting.   Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page L-R: Miguel de Serpa Soares, Secretary-General of the IGC, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel; IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore; and Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS CB&TT Informal Working Group Facilitator Olai Uludong, Palau ABMTs Informal Working Group Facilitator Alice Revell, New Zealand MGRs Informal Working Group Facilitator Janine Coye-Felson, Belize EIAs Informal Working Group Facilitator René Lefeber, the Netherlands Emad Morcos Mattar, Egypt, on behalf of the G-77/China Shara Duncan, Costa Rica Andreas Papaconstantinou, EU Abbas Bagherpour, Iran Francisco González, Colombia Martin Zvachula, Federated States of Micronesia Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group L-R: Kimo Goree, IISD Reporting Services, and Christian Prip, Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), Norway Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation Ismail Raushan Zahir, Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland Evan Bloom,US Liliana Matos, Venezuela Ma Xinmin, China View of the IGC plenary Peggy Kalas, High Seas Alliance Lydia Slobodian, IUCN Hiroko Muraki Gottlieb, International Council of Environmental Law Jay Francis Alcantara, the Philippines Matilda Bartley, Pacific Island Forum Dekalega Fintakpa Lamega, Togo Delegates from Africa with IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore Delegates from Chile Delegates from the European region Delegates from the CARICOM Delegates from the Pacific Islands, New Zealand and the Netherlands Delegates from the Netherlands  

  L-R: Michael Lodge, Secretary-General, International Seabed Authority, in conversation with Maruthadu Sudhakar, India The informal working group on environmental impact assessments (EIAs) focused on: •    decision-making process; •    monitoring, review, and reporting; and •    strategic environmental assessments. The informal working group on marine genetic resources (MGRs), facilitated by Janine Coye-Felson (Belize), considered material, geographical, and temporal scope. 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 reports and daily web coverage from BBNJ IGC 1. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary and analysis report from the meeting.   Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page EIAs Informal Working Group Facilitator René Lefeber, the Netherlands Matthías Pálsson, Iceland Saravanane Narayanane, India Jessica Battle, WWF Cymie Payne, IUCN Lisa Speer, Natural Resources Defense Council Wini Broadbelt, EU Jeem Lippwe, Federated States of Micronesia Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific-Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation Ma Xinmin, China Duncan Currie, High Seas Alliance John Fox, Fiji L-R: EIAs Informal Working Group Facilitator René Lefeber, the Netherlands; Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Michele Ameri, UNDOALOS; and Fernando Cabrera Díaz, UNDOALOS IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore MGRs Informal Working Group Facilitator Janine Coye-Felson, Belize Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group Drusila Bayate, the Philippines Juliette Babb-Riley, Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Emad Morcos Mattar, Egypt, on behalf of the G-77/China View of MGRs Informal Working Group in session Rishy Bukoree, Mauritius María Claudia Vélez Crismatt, Colombia Matilda Bartley, Samoa Gabrielle Chin, New Zealand Delegates from Germany L-R: Panelists from the side event on "Capacity Building: International Negotiations and Diplomacy" with Ronán Long; Lisa Eurén Höglund; Essam Yassin Mohammed; Alvin Leong; Marimalia Rodriguez Chaves; and François Bailet