Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes Thirty-Ninth Session

NEW YORK, 8 December (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) — The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its thirty-ninth session at United Nations Headquarters from 19 October to 4 December 2015.

The Commission, working through its subcommissions, devoted seven 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.

Nine subcommissions worked during the thirty-ninth session.  These were the subcommissions established for consideration of the submissions made by:  Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Southern Region (partial revised submission); Uruguay; 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 Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, jointly, concerning the Ontong Java Plateau; France and South Africa, jointly, in the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands; Kenya; Mauritius in the region of Rodrigues Island; and Nigeria.  A number of subcommissions met with the respective delegations.

The subcommission established to consider the submission made by Uruguay completed its work and submitted its draft recommendations to the Chairman of the Commission.  The recommendations will be considered during the plenary of the Commission at its fortieth session.

In 2016, the Commission will hold three sessions as follows:  the fortieth session would be held from 1 February to 18 March 2016, with plenary sessions from 8 to 12 February and from 7 to 11 March 2016; the forty-first session would be held from 11 July to 26 August 2016, with plenary sessions from 18 to 22 July and from 15 to 19 August 2016; and the forty-second session would be held from 17 October to 2 December 2016.  These dates are subject to approval by the General Assembly.

As required under the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all these 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.  Details of the thirty-ninth 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/91.

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