Background Release

COMMISSION ON LIMITS OF CONTINENTAL SHELF, MEETING AT HEADQUARTERS

10 AUGUST-11 SEPTEMBER, WILL HOLD PLENARY 24 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER

NEW YORK, 18 August (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) -- The General Assembly, in its resolution 63/111 of 5 December 2008, approved the convening by the Secretary-General of the twenty-fourth session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in New York from 10 August to 11 September 2009 on the understanding that 10 to 21 August and 8 to 11 September will be used for the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information System laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.  The plenary will start on 24 August and run through 4 September.  The twenty-fourth session was preceded from 3 to 7 August by a resumed twenty-third session, which was used for the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information System laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.

At the twenty-fourth session, the Commission will continue the examination of data and other materials submitted by several coastal States parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning the outer limits of their continental shelf in areas where those limits extend beyond 200 nautical miles.  In particular, it will continue to examine the submissions made by France (in respect of the areas of French Guiana and New Caledonia), Barbados, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (in respect of Ascension Island) and Indonesia (in respect of the area of North West of Sumatra Island).

A number of submissions were delivered to the United Nations Secretary-General, in accordance with article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the time limit provided for in article 4 of annex II to the Convention, as well as the decisions of the Meeting of States Parties, contained in document SPLOS/72 and SPLOS/183 (see http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm).

In accordance with the Commission’s rules of procedure (document CLCS/40/Rev.1), the submissions which were delivered more than three months before the commencement of the twenty-fourth session are included on the session’s provisional agenda.  These submissions were made by Suriname; Myanmar; France (for the areas of the French Antilles and the Kerguelen Islands); Yemen (in respect of South East of Socotra Island); the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (in respect of Hatton Rockall Area); Ireland (in respect of Hatton-Rockall Area); Uruguay; Philippines (in the Benham Rise region); the Cook Islands (concerning the Manihiki Plateau); Fiji; Argentina; Ghana; Iceland (in the Ægir Basin area in the Western and Southern parts of Reykjanes Ridge); Denmark (in the area North of the Faroe Islands); Pakistan; Norway (in respect of Bouvetøya and Dronning Maud Land); South Africa (in respect of the mainland of the territory of the Republic of South Africa); the joint submission by the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (concerning the Ontong Java Plateau); the joint submission by Malaysia and Viet Nam (in the Southern part of the South China Sea); the joint submission by France and South Africa (in the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands); Kenya; Mauritius (in the region of Rodrigues Island); Viet Nam (in North Area VNM-N); Nigeria; Seychelles (concerning the Northern Plateau Region); France (in respect of La Réunion Island and Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands); Palau; Côte d'Ivoire and Sri Lanka.

At the twenty-fourth session the Commission will hear formal presentations of 18 of the above submissions, namely, those made by Suriname; Myanmar; the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (in respect of Hatton Rockall Area); Ireland (in respect of Hatton-Rockall Area); Uruguay; Philippines (in the Benham Rise region); the Cook Islands (concerning the Manihiki Plateau); Fiji; Argentina; Ghana; Denmark (in the area North of the Faroe Islands); Malaysia and Viet Nam (in the Southern part of the South China Sea); Kenya; Mauritius (in the region of Rodrigues Island); Viet Nam (in North Area VNM-N); Nigeria; Seychelles (concerning the Northern Plateau Region); and Côte d'Ivoire.  The remaining States whose submissions are included on the provisional agenda have deferred their presentations to a later session.

As required under the rules of procedure, the executive summary of all new submissions, including all charts and coordinates, was made public by the Secretary-General through note verbales which were circulated to all United Nations Member States, including States parties to the Convention.  The executive summaries were also posted on the Division’s website at http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm.

At its twenty-third session, the Commission adopted the recommendations in relation to the submissions made by Norway (in respect of the North East Atlantic and the Arctic), Mexico (in respect of the Western polygon in the Gulf of Mexico) and the joint submission made by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (in respect of the area of the Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay).  The summaries of these recommendations are available on the above website.

The submissions to the Commission are made pursuant to article 76, paragraph 8, of the Convention, which provides that, if a coastal State intends to establish the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, information on such limits “shall be submitted by the coastal State to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.  […] The Commission shall make recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf.  The limits of the shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of these recommendations shall be final and binding.”

As provided by article 5 of annex II to the Convention, “unless the Commission decides otherwise, the Commission shall function by way of subcommissions composed of seven members, appointed in a balanced manner taking into account the specific elements of each submission by a coastal State.”

For additional information, including on the Commission’s background and mandate, please visit the website of the Division at www.un.org/Depts/los.

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For information media • not an official record