Highlights for Friday, 5 April 2019
IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore, gavelled the meeting to a close at 5:50 pm.
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) met on Friday, 5 April 2019 for the last day of IGC-2. They finalized their discussions on cross-cutting issues, heard reports from the informal working group facilitators, and discussed the way forward.
They shared views on:• The nature of the text to be discussed at IGC-3, with some favoring treaty text, and others preferring a streamlined document that eliminates options that garnered no agreement at IGC-2; and
• The format of the next meeting, with many underlining the need for parallel meetings, and small group meetings (informal-informals) to further progress.As the meeting drew to a close, the sense of urgency to begin treaty-based negotiations was palpable. During the final plenary, IGC President Rena Lee outlined her plan to develop a concise document containing treaty text to facilitate focused negotiations at IGC-3. She closed the meeting at 5:50 pm.The Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of IGC-2 will be available on Monday, 8 April 2019.
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 Cross-Cutting Issues
View of the informal working group on cross-cutting issues
Juliette Babb-Riley, Barbados, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Jean Didier Ramde, Burkina Faso
Gou Haibo, China
Asha Challenger, Antigua and Barbuda
Matthías Pálsson, Iceland
Deborah Manase, Marshall Islands
Sunan Rustam, Indonesia
Vezua Paiva, Angola
L-R: Peggy Kalas and Duncan Currie, High Seas Alliance
Susan Whelan, Holy See
Lionel Yee, Singapore
Janine Coye-Felson, Belize, Facilitator of the informal working group on marine genetic resources
Alice Revell, New Zealand, Facilitator of the informal working group on area-based management tools
Olai Uludong, Palau, Facilitator of the informal working group on capacity building and transfer of marine technology
IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore, presented the reports for the informal working group on environmental impact assessments and cross-cutting issues on behalf of René Lefebre.
L-R: IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore and Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS); and Alice Hicuburundi, UNDOALOS
Evan Bloom, US
Mohammed Bessedik, Algeria, on behalf of the African Group
Tetsuya Yoshimoto, Japan
Fuad Bateh, Palestine, on behalf of the G-77/China
Audrey Abayena, Ghana
Pablo Arrocha Olabuenaga, Mexico
Maria Angela Ponce, the Philippines
Margo Deiye, Nauru, on behalf of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF)
UNDOALOS Secretariat
Delegates from EU with IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore
Delegates from the Pacific Small Island Developing States
Delegates from Latin America
Delegates from the African Group
Delegates from CARICOM
Participants from the High Seas Alliance
Delegates from the IGC-2 Bureau
L-R: William Oddo, Belinda Kiilu, and James Waweru, Kenya
L-R: Nicholas Ioannides, Cyprus, with Teresa Cruz Sardiñas and Indira Guardia, Cuba
Delegates from India
L-R: IGC President Rena Lee, Singapore (center) with ENB IGC-2 team members Bernard Soubry, Priscila Andrade, Asheline Appleton, Tallash Kantai, Asterios Tsioumanis, and Franz Dejon