Summary
On Thursday morning, delegates at the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP-19) resumed discussions.
On inter-agency cooperation and coordination, delegates heard from Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Counsel, in his capacity as the UN-Oceans Focal Point, on progress of work under UN-Oceans. He highlighted the UN-Oceans voluntary commitment process, launched at the 2017 Ocean Conference, to raise awareness of relevant regulatory and policy frameworks and members activities for conserving and sustainably using oceans and their resources and advancing work under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14. Delegates briefly discussed issues related to development of the SDG 14 indicators.
Delegates also received an update on the financial status of the Voluntary Trust Fund from UNDOALOS Director Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli who reiterated the need for replenishment of the Fund.
Delegates completed the general exchange of views that began on Monday morning before considering the process for the selection of topics and panelists, and issues that could benefit from further consideration under the UN General Assembly on ocean affairs and the Law of the Sea.
The meeting then adjourned to provide time for the Co-Chairs and Secretariat to prepare the draft Co-Chairs’ summary to be reviewed by delegates on Friday.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily digital coverage from the 19th Meeting of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea. In addition IISD Reporting Services has published a summary and analysis report from the meeting, which is available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera
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Plenary
The dais during Thursday’s proceedings
Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel
Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli, Director, UNDOALOS
Elizabeth Phelps, US
John Brincat, EU
Frank Thomsen, Central Dredging Association (CEDA), and Rebecca Lent, International Whaling Commission (IWC)
Stefan Micallef, International Maritime Organization (IMO)
L-R: Elizabeth Phelps, US; Nathan Merchant, Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture, United Kingdom; and Howard Rosenbaum, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
John Brincat, EU, and Herlinde Vanhoutte, Belgium
Larisa Chernysheva, Russian Federation, and Mirela Pascaru, Romania
Nicolas Entrup, OceanCare, and Mark Tasker, International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES)
Kirstie Knowles, New Zealand, and John Bennett, American Society of International Law (ASIL)
Delegates share a laugh at the end of Thursday’s proceedings
L-R: Kirstie Knowles, New Zealand; G. Latha, India; and Lora Nordtvedt Reeve, OceanCare
Maggie Carey and Kevin Chand, Maldives
Delegates from France
Delegates from the Alliance of Small Island States
Around the UN
