Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes Thirty-Seventh Session

NEW YORK, 23 March (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its thirty-seventh session at United Nations Headquarters from 2 February to 20 March 2015.  Besides the two weeks of plenary meetings (9 to 13 February and 9 to 13 March), the Commission, working through its Subcommissions, devoted five weeks to the technical examination of submissions at the Geographic Information Systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

On 13 March 2015, the Commission considered and adopted, by consensus, the recommendations in respect of the submission of Pakistan.  

The recently received submission by Tonga, in respect of the western part of the Lau-Colville Ridge, was presented by the delegation of Tonga before the plenary of the Commission.  The delegation of Tonga was headed by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala.

Nine previously established Subcommissions continued their work during the thirty-seventh session and met with the respective delegations.  These were the Subcommissions established for consideration of 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 mainland of the territory of the Republic of South Africa, the joint submission by the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands concerning the Ontong Java Plateau, the joint submission by France and South Africa in the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands, and the submission by Mauritius in the region of Rodrigues Island.

The members of the Commission were informed about the status of the trust fund for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of submissions to the Commission for developing States, as well as the trust fund for the purpose of defraying the cost of participation of members of the Commission from developing States, in particular of the fact that contributions to both trust funds had reduced significantly over the last two years.

The Commission decided that, for the remainder of the current term of the Commission, which expires in June 2017, it would continue to meet for three sessions of seven weeks each, including plenary meetings, for a total of 21 weeks per year of meetings of the Commission and its Subcommissions, and that four of those 21 weeks would be devoted to plenary meetings.  Consequently, the Commission decided that it would meet for seven weeks during the thirty-eighth session, which will be held from 20 July to 4 September 2015, including plenary parts of the session to be held from 3 to 7 and from 24 to 28 August 2015.

Recalling relevant paragraphs of resolution 69/245, the Commission decided to convey to the Secretariat its needs concerning working space and facilities in order to ensure efficient and more adequate working conditions for its members.  In this connection, the Commission expressed strong expectations that these needs would be addressed by States parties and ultimately by the General Assembly as soon as possible, and well before the expiration of the present term of office. 

Details of the thirty-seventh session will be reflected in the Statement by the Chairperson of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on the progress of work in the Commission, which will be issued as document CLCS/88.

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