Background Release

Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Meeting at Headquarters

30 July to 24 August, Will Hold Plenary 30 July to 10 August

NEW YORK, 26 July (United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 66/231 of 24 December 2011, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will hold its thirtieth session from 30 July to 24 August 2012.

This will be the first meeting of the Commission following the election, at the Twenty-second Meeting of States Parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, from 4 to 11 June 2012, of 20 members.  The following 20 members were elected for a term of five years commencing on 16 June 2012 and ending on 15 June 2017:  Muhammad Arshad (Pakistan), Lawrence Folajimi Awosika (Nigeria), Galo Carrera (Mexico), Francis L. Charles (Trinidad and Tobago), Ivan F. Glumov (Russian Federation), Richard Thomas Haworth (Canada and United Kingdom), Martin Vang Heinesen (Denmark), George Jaoshvili (Georgia), Emmanuel Kalngui (Cameroon), Wenzheng Lu (China), Mazlan Bin Madon (Malaysia), Estevao Stefane Mahanjane (Mozambique), Jair Alberto Ribas Marques (Brazil), Simon Njuguna (Kenya), Isaac Owusu Oduro (Ghana), Yong Ahn Park (Republic of Korea), Carlos Marcelo Paterlini (Argentina), Sivaramakrishnan Rajan (India), Walter R. Roest (Netherlands), and Tetsuro Urabe (Japan).  At the request of the Group of Eastern European States during the Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in June 2012, the election of one member of the Commission was postponed in order to allow for additional nominations from that Group.  A Meeting of States Parties to the Convention is to be held by the end of 2012 in order to elect one member to fill in the remaining vacancy. 

The Commission, at its thirtieth session, will elect a new Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons.  The Commission will also reconstitute its subsidiary bodies.  Furthermore, in the light of the partial change in membership of the Commission, vacancies in the subcommissions established by the Commission to examine the submissions of Uruguay and the Cook Islands (concerning the Manihiki Plateau) will need to be filled.  The period from 13 August to 24 August 2012 is allocated for the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information Systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.

During its thirtieth session, the Commission will continue to consider its workload.  It will also receive a formal presentation of the submission made by the United Republic of Tanzania.  Upon the request of the respective submitting States, presentations on the remaining submissions that have been initially included on the provisional agenda for the session (notably, Iceland in the Ægir Basin area and in the Western and Southern parts of Reykjanes Ridge; Pakistan; France in respect of La Réunion Island and Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands; Sri Lanka; and Gabon) have been deferred to a later session.   Argentina has also requested to be given an opportunity to make a presentation of its submission to the Commission in its renewed composition.

As required under the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all new submissions, including all charts and coordinates, have been made public by the Secretary‑General through continental shelf notifications circulated to Member States of the United Nations, as well as the States parties to the Convention.  The executive summaries are available on the Division’s website at http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm.

Also, the summaries of recommendations already adopted by the Commission are available on the above-referenced website.

For additional information on the history and purpose of the Commission, see earlier Press Release SEA/1818 of 30 March 2005.  For additional information, please visit the website of the Division at www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm.

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For information media • not an official record