Commission on Continental Shelf Limits Concludes Thirty-Eighth Session

NEW YORK, 16 September (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) ― The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its thirty-eighth session at United Nations Headquarters from 20 July to 4 September.  Besides the two weeks of plenary meetings (3-7 and 24-28 August), 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.

Several subcommissions continued their work during the thirty-eighth session.  These were the subcommissions established for consideration of the submissions made by Uruguay, the Cook Islands concerning the Manihiki Plateau, Argentina, Norway in respect of Bouvetøya and Dronning Maud Land, South Africa in respect of the mainland of the territory 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 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.  A number of the subcommissions met with the respective delegations.

Two subcommissions, namely those established to consider the submissions made by Argentina and by the Cook Islands, concerning the Manihiki Plateau, completed their work and transmitted to the Commission recommendations.

At the plenary level, the Commission continued consideration of the submission made by Iceland in respect of the Ægir Basin area and in the western and southern parts of Reykjanes Ridge.

Several submissions, which had been received recently, were presented by the respective delegations before the plenary of the Commission:  the submission by Angola; the partial revised submission by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Southern Region; the Joint Submission by Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone in respect of areas in the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the coast of West Africa; and the partial submission by Spain in respect of the area west of the Canary Islands.

The Commission also established three new subcommissions to consider the partial revised submission by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Southern Region; the submission by Kenya and the submission by Nigeria.  The newly established subcommission to consider the submission by Nigeria met for one week during this session and began its consideration of the submission.

The Commission decided, subject to approval by the General Assembly, that, in 2016, it would hold three sessions of seven weeks each, including plenary meetings, as follows:  the fortieth session would be held from 1 February to 18 March, with plenary sessions from 8 to 12 February and from 7 to 11 March; the forty-first session would be held from 11 July to 26 August, with plenary sessions from 18 to 22 July and from 15 to 19 August; and the forty-second session would be held from 17 October to 2 December.  The Commission also decided to adjust the dates of the thirty-ninth session, which will now be held from 19 October to 4 December 2015.

Details of the thirty-eighth 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/90.

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