Small Island Developing States

On Friday, 21 July, plenary resumed at 3:45 pm. Chair Duarte offered draft recommendations arising from informal bilateral consultations, clarifying that: the elements of the draft text of an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) do not reflect consensus; section A includes non-exclusive elements that generated convergence among most delegations; section B highlights some of the main issues on which there is divergence of views; and both sections are for reference purposes because they do not reflect all options discussed and are without prejudice to states’ positions during the negotiations. In addition, the draft included: a recommendation to the UN General Assembly to take a decision, as soon as possible, on the convening of an intergovernmental conference (IGC), under the auspices of the UN, to consider the PrepCom recommendations on the elements and to elaborate the text of an ILBI under the Convention; and an indication that the titles of the two sections be removed (namely, “elements of an ILBI draft text” and “elements requiring most attention towards further progress in the development of an ILBI draft text”) . Plenary was immediately suspended to allow for regional consultations. 7:25 pm: regional consultations are still ongoing 8:59 pm: plenary resumes 9:10 pm: plenary adopts recommendations to UN General Assembly 10:01 pm: Chair Duarte gaveled the meeting to a close The Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of PrepCom 4 will be available on Monday, 24 July 2017, online at: http://enb.iisd.org/oceans/bbnj/prepcom4/ 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 Dais applaudes the conclusion of PrepCom 4 Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil, gaveled the meeting to a close at 10:01 pm L-R: Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly; Barbara Boechat, Brazil; Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil, in discussion with John Brincat, EU L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Barbara Boechat, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS Delegates waiting for the resumption of PrepCom 4 Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea (right), in a conversation with delegates from Cameroon L-R: Elizabeth Rodríguez Santiago, American Society of International Law, confers with Stella Bartolini Cavicchi, World Ocean Council Delegates from Iceland reviewing draft text Delegates from the African Group reviewing draft text Delegates from Norway and Iceland consulting Delegates from the African Group consulting Delegates from Canada consulting L-R: Zentaro Naganuma, Japan, with Ma Xinmin, China L-R: Evan Bloom, US, with Zentaro Naganuma, Japan L-R: Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS, with Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, International Seabed Authority (ISA) L-R: Alain Tellier, Canada, with Ma Xinmin, China L-R: Zentaro Naganuma, Japan, with Kjell Kristian Egge, Norway L-R: Alain Tellier, Canada, confers with Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil, with Matthías Pálsson, Iceland L-R Maxim Musikhin, Russian Federation and Larisa Chernysheva, Russian Federation, in conversation with Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil (right), in discussions with Evan Bloom, US Duncan Currie, Greenpeace (center), with delegates from the Russian Federation L-R: Tallash Kantai, IISD Reporting Services, in conversation with Matthías Pálsson, Iceland L-R: Tidiani Couma, Joëlle Casanova, and Florian Botto, Monaco Delegates from China Delegates from the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Delegates from Latin America and the Caribbean Delegates from the African Group Participants from the High Seas Alliance

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 Tuesday, 18 July, delegates met in plenary throughout the day to continue consideration of a revised Chair’s text containing draft recommendations to the UN General Assembly. Discussions focused on the following draft elements of a new international legally binding instrument: general elements, including use of terms, scope of application, objectives and relationships with other instruments; general principles and approaches; marine genetic resources; area-based management tools, including marine protected areas; and environmental impact assessments. Chair Duarte proposed concluding consideration of the revised Chair’s draft on Wednesday morning; holding informal consultations with interested delegations on Wednesday afternoon on difficult points on a non-objection basis; and if no reformulation is possible, developing another section in the draft recommendations to deal with non-consensus points. 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 View of PrepCom 4 participants Zakieh Taghizadeh, Iran Alice Revell, New Zealand Jean Kenfack, Cameroon María Claudia Vélez Crismatt, Colombia Paulo José Chiarelli, Brazil Metod Špacek, EU Teresa Cruz Sardiñas, Cuba Michael Googan, Australia John Fintakpa Lamega, Togo Larisa Chernysheva, Russian Federation Martin Zvachula, Federated States of Micronesia Ma Xinmin, China Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group Rena Lee, Singapore Evan Bloom, US L-R: René Lefeber, Tom Diederen, and Wini Broadbelt, the Netherlands Alistair Graham, Australia, in a conversation with delegates from China Zentaro Naganuma, Japan, confers with Diedre Mills, Jamaica L-R: Evan Bloom, US, in a discussion with Zentaro Naganuma, Japan Joan Yang, Nauru (second from right) in a discussion with delegates from Canada and Switzerland Delegates from the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) consulting Delegates from the African Group in informal consultations Publications at PrepCom 4

On Friday, 14 July, delegates met in the informal working group on crosscutting issues, discussing: use of terms, scope and objective of the ILBI, relationship with other agreements; as well as guiding principles and approaches, and international cooperation, for BBNJ conservation and sustainable use. In the afternoon, plenary resumed to discuss next steps including the convening of an intergovernmental conference and the status of the Chair’s streamlined non-paper. 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; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS Metod Špaček, EU Alice Revell, New Zealand Matthías Pálsson, Iceland Audrey Naana Abayena, Ghana Kabure Yeeting, Kiribati Josefina Bunge, Argentina Javier Gorostegui, Chile Narayanane Saravanane, India Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea Khurshed Alam, Bangladesh Juan Cuéllar Torres, Colombia Ismail Raushan, Maldives, on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States Diedre Mills, Jamaica, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Participants at PrepCom 4 Sesselja Sigurdardóttir, Iceland Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico Mamadou Diallo, Senegal Rena Lee, Singapore Evan Bloom, US Luis Oña Garcés, Ecuador, on behalf of the G-77/China Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation Rogelio Villanueva Jr., the Philippines Lisa Speer, Natural Resources Defense Council Zentaro Naganuma, Japan Hina Saeed Baig, Pakistan Ma Xinmin, China L-R: Kristina Gjerde, Cymie Payne, and Hiroko Muraki Gottlieb, IUCN L-R: Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS; Barbara Boechat, Brazil; Chair Carlos Sobral Duarte, Brazil; Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS; and Charlotte Salpin, UNDOALOS L-R: Javier Gorostegui, Chile, in a conversation with Metod Špaček, EU Greenpeace images and encouraging messages from the Alboran Sea Duncan Currie (second from right), Greenpeace, in a discussion with delegates from New Zealand Delegates from WWF

On Thursday morning, the 2017 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) started with reviews of implementation of two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure); and SDG 14 (life below water). In the afternoon, two reviews related to SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals) took place, on: investing in, and financing for, SDGs; and advancing science, technology and innovation (STI) for SDGs. 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. Session 11: Review of implementation: SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) View of the dais during the session Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava, Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe to the UN, and President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) John Danilovich, Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Maria Kiwanuka, Special Advisor to the President, Uganda Miguel Ruiz Cabañas, Vice Minister, Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Mexico Magnus Arildsson, Head, Internet of Things Product Management, Ericsson Arne Holte, former President, World Blind Union, Norway Patrick Ho, Deputy Chairman, China Energy Fund Committee Juan José Gómez Camacho, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Bachar Brahim Adoum, Chad Aire Rihe, Estonia Abdul Halim Bin Abdul Aziz, Malaysia Ola Sidani, Lebanon Sebastian König, Switzerland Session 12 - Review of implementation: SDG 14 (life below water) View of the dais during the session Olof Skoog, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the UN, and Co-President, UN Ocean Conference Peter Thomson, President, UNGA Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)  Luke Daunivalu, Deputy Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN, and Co-President, UN Ocean Conference Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General, Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel  Jake Rice, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada Moderator Kate Brown, Executive Director, Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) Marjo Vierros, Director, Coastal Policy and Humanities Research, and Senior Associate, Global Ocean Forum Ronald Jumeau, Permanent Representative of the Seychelles to the UN Tui Shortland, Director, Pacific Indigenous and Local Knowledge Centre of Distinction Max Rai, Permanent Representative of Papua New Guinea to the UN, speaking on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) Session 13 - Review of implementation of SDGs and thematic review of SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals): Investing in, and financing for, SDGs View of the dais during the session Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the UN Jerry Matthews Matjila, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the UN Gebeyehu Ganga Gayito, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the UN Nabeel Munir, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, and Vice President, ECOSOC Moderator Manuel Montes, Senior Advisor on Finance and Development, the South Centre Kajsa Olofsgård, Ambassador for the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden Peter Adriaens, CEO, Equarius Risk Analytics Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network Uchita de Zoysa, Sri Lanka Gladys Ghartey, Ghana Session 14 - Review of implementation SDGs and thematic review SDG 17: Advancing science, technology and innovation for SDGs View of the dais during the session Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the UN, and Co-Chair, Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) Vaughan Turekian, Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State, US, and Co-Chair, STI Forum Donovan Guttieres, Focal Point, Science-Policy Interface Platform, Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY)  Cristián Barros Melet, Vice President of ECOSOC  Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Science, Technology and Research, Sri Lanka Heide Hackmann, Executive Director, International Council for Science (ICSU), and Co-Chair of the 10-Member Group of High-Level Representatives in support of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) Nebojša Nakićenović, Deputy Director General, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) Aleksandr Khachaturyan, Armenia Dazhu Yang, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Around the Venue John Danilovich, Secretary-General, ICC (L), speaks with a delegate Sadiqullah Tahirzai, Afghanistan Francesca Perucci, UN Statistics Division (UNSD) (C), speaks with members of the Secretariat Delegates from Kenya Delegates between sessions Oceans materials on display around the UN