Small Island Developing States

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 For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. 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