Highlights for Monday, 15 July 2019
Second Part of ISA-25 opens at ISA Headquarters in Kingston
On Monday, the Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) opened for the second part of the 25th annual session in Kingston, Jamaica.
Throughout the day, the Council addressed organizational matters; discussed national legislation with respect to activities in the Area; and heard the report on the implementation of the 2018 Council Decision relating to the summary report of the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) Chair. The Council also started its consideration of components of the draft regulations for exploitation of mineral resources in the Area, focusing on the financial model and the outcomes of the relevant Working Group, held prior to the Council’s opening.Highlights of the day include the:
election of Erasmo Alonso Lara Cabrera (Mexico) to replace Alonso Francisco Martinez Ruiz (Mexico) on the LTC until 2021;
approval of an application for a plan of work for exploration of polymetallic nodules by the Beijing Pioneer Hi-Tech Development Corporation, sponsored by China, in the western Pacific Ocean;
announcement of several workshops planned to facilitate the development and review of regional environmental management plans; and
discussion on the outcomes of the second meeting of the Working Group’s on the financial model, including options for the payment mechanism and two related submissions by the African Group.
Two side events took place during the day: one organized by the Authority on coherent, inter-disciplinary, and adaptive approaches for the development of regional environmental management plans (REMPs) in the Area; and the other organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat on perspectives on liability rules and procedures for harm arising from activities in the Area. For more details on the day’s events and to hear what delegates said in the breezeways, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from the 2nd Part of ISA-25. In addition, IISD Reporting Services, has published a summary and analysis from the meeting, which is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera
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Lumka Yengeni, South Africa, Council President for the 25th Session
Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General (right), and Alfonso Ascencio-Herrera, ISA Legal Counsel and Deputy to the Secretary-General
Bernd von Münchow-Pohl and Urs Daniel Engels, Germany
Conn Nugent, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Guy Sevrin and Patrik Schotte, Belgium
Kathy Ann Brown, Jamaica
Gina Guillén Grillo, Costa Rica, and Félix García, Dominican Republic
Duncan Currie, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC)
Marzia Rovere, Daniele Bosio, and Marcello Iocca, Italy
Gavin Watson, United Kingdom (UK)
Gou Haibo, China
Russell Howorth and Josefa Caniogo, Fiji
Clement Yow Mulalap, Federated States of Micronesia
Mehdi Remaoun, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group
Francisco Javier Bernales Errázuriz and Roberto Álvarez, Chile
Eden Charles, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the ISA for the Enterprise, and Katie Elles, ISA Secretariat
Tomasz Abramowski, Interoceanmetal Joint Organization
Open-ended Working Group Chair Olav Myklebust and Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, Norway
Delegates from the Russian Federation consult before the start of the morning session
Juan José González Mijares, Mexico, and Michael Lodge, ISA Secretary-General
Marie Bourrel-McKinnon, ISA Secretariat, and Carlos Alberto Michaelsen den Hartog, Brazil
Open-ended Working Group Chair Olav Myklebust, Harald Brekke and Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik, Norway
Delegates during informal discussions
Ingo Narberhaus, Germany, and Patrik Schotte, Belgium
Nicole Lyas and Emily Johnson, Australia
L-R: Cadinia Funganitao, ‘Elisiva ‘Akauola, and ‘Ilaisaane Vea, Tonga
The UK delegation shares a laugh at the end of the morning session
