Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf to Hold Thirty-Seventh Session at Headquarters, 2 February to 20 March 2015

NEW YORK, 30 January (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will hold its thirty-seventh session from 2 February to 20 March 2015. 

The two plenary parts of the session will be held from 9 to 13 February and from 9 to 13 March, while the remainder of the time will be devoted to the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information Systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.

Among the coastal States that had been invited to make a presentation of their submissions, the following States have already accepted this invitation: Tonga, in respect of the western part of the Lau-Colville Ridge; and, jointly, Cabo Verde, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone in respect of areas in the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the coast of West Africa have already accepted this invitation.  A number of other coastal States indicated a preference to present their submissions at a subsequent session on the understanding that such deferrals would not affect the position of the submissions in the queue.

The Commission will resume its consideration of the draft recommendations in regard of the submission made by Iceland, in respect of the Ægir Basin area and the western and southern parts of Reykjanes Ridge, which it commenced at the thirty-fifth session.

There are currently nine Subcommissions actively considering the submissions made by Uruguay; the Cook Islands concerning the Manihiki Plateau; Argentina; Pakistan; Norway in respect of Bouvetøya and Dronning Maud Land; South Africa in respect of the South African Mainland; the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands jointly in respect of the Ontong Java Plateau; France and South Africa jointly in respect of the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands; and Mauritius in respect of the region of Rodrigues Island. 

As required under the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all the 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 States parties to the Convention.  The executive summaries are available on the Division’s website at www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm.  The summaries of recommendations adopted by the Commission are also available on the above-referenced website.

For additional information on work of the Commission see the website of the Division at http://www.un.org/depts/los/index.htm.