Highlights and images for 1 April 2019

Summary

Highlights for Monday, 1 April 2019

L-R: Keleni Seruvatu and Semi Bolalailai, Fiji, receiving a Best in Opening Statement award from Jessica Battle, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International

Delegates at the second session of the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) continued discussions on environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in an informal working group facilitated by René Lefeber (the Netherlands).  Under EIAs, they considered the process for these assessments, as well as details related to the:

  • content of an EIA;
  • monitoring, reporting, and review;
  • strategic environmental assessments (SEAs); and
  • activities for which EIAs are required.
  • During the lunch break, delegates attended side-events on: the role of science and a scientific body under the new instrument, presented by the Government of Canada, the High Seas Alliance, and Pew Charitable Trusts; and “Connectivity: a critical consideration in global ocean governance,” presented by UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre. In the corridors, while EIA discussions made clear progress on activities, process, and content, conceptual murkiness and conflict remained regarding monitoring, reporting, and review, and strategic environmental assessments. There was a general acceptance of the utility of SEAs, but views diverged on how they would apply to areas beyond the control of states and who would conduct them.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, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from BBNJ IGC 2. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.

    Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon

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    Informal Working Group on Environmental Impact Assessments
    L-R: René Lefeber, the Netherlands, Facilitator of the informal working group on environmental impact assessments; Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); and Michele Ameri, UNDOALOS
    Fran Humphries, International Council of Environmental Law
    Cymie Payne, International Union for Conservation of Nature
    Alice de Juvigny, International Cable Protection Committee
    Tilani Silva, Sri Lanka

    View of the plenary session on the informal working group on environmental impact assessments

    Wini Broadbelt, EU
    Yordanka Stoimenova, Canada
    Lowri Mai Griffiths, UK
    Alice Revell, New Zealand
    Stephanie Forte, Jamaica
    Regina Paula Eugenio, the Philippines
    Leonito Bacalando Jr., Federated States of Micronesia
    Deborah Manase, Marshall Islands
    Babajide Alo, Nigeria
    Mohamed Atlassi, Morocco
    Carlos Mata, Uruguay, on behalf of the Like-Minded Latin American Countries
    Neil Hughes, Australia
    Gou Haibo, China
    Saravanane Narayanane, India
    L-R: Maria Teresa Infante, Chile, with IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore
    Evan Bloom, US
    Sergey Leonidchenko, Russian Federation
    Sora Lokita, Indonesia
    Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group
    Duncan Currie, High Seas Alliance
    Peni Suveinakama, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
    Essam Yassin Mohammed, Eritrea
    Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland
    L-R: Ralph Sontag and Julian Jackson, Pew Charitable Trusts
    L-R: Hector Bachigalupo, Maria Teresa Infante, Cristian Laborde, and Cristóbal Hernández Castillo, Chile
    Delegates from the US

    IGC-2 participants from the Strong High Seas project

    WWF award made from a recycled bottle for Best Opening Statement

    Participants