Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Meeting at Headquarters, 11 July-26 August

NEW YORK, 11 July (Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) ― The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will hold its forty-first session from 11 July to 26 August.

The two plenary parts of the session will be held from 18 to 22 July and from 15 to 19 August, 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, which have been recently upgraded pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/235.

Among the coastal States that have been invited to make a presentation of their submissions at the plenary, Côte d’Ivoire; Denmark, in respect of the southern continental shelf of Greenland, the north-eastern continental shelf of Greenland, and the northern continental shelf of Greenland; France, in respect of Saint Pierre and Miquelon; and Somalia have already accepted this invitation.

Some other coastal States indicated a preference to present their submissions at a future session of the Commission on the understanding that such deferrals would not affect the position of the submissions in the queue.

There are currently 10 subcommissions actively considering the submissions, namely those made by:  the Russian Federation, in respect of the Arctic Ocean (partial revised submission); Brazil, in respect of the Brazilian Southern Region (partial revised submission); 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 made by Micronesia (Federated States of), Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, in respect of the Ontong Java Plateau; France and South Africa, in respect of the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands; Kenya; Mauritius, in respect of the region of Rodrigues Island; Nigeria; and Seychelles, in respect of the Northern Plateau Region.

The Commission will also, at the plenary level, continue its consideration of draft recommendations in respect to the submission made by Uruguay and the Cook Islands, concerning the Manihiki Plateau.

In addition, the Commission will consider the request of the twenty-sixth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea held in June, that the Commission and its subcommissions meet in New York for up to 26 weeks, but not less than an intended minimum of 21 weeks a year for a period of five years.  The Commission will also prepare a plan of sessions to be held in 2017.

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.

The Commission is a body of 21 experts established pursuant to article 2, Annex II of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  They are elected for a term of five years by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention from among their nationals having due regard to the need to ensure equitable geographical representation.  They serve in their personal capacities.

The Commission makes recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf based on information submitted to it by coastal States.  These recommendations are based on the scientific and technical data and other material provided by States in relation to the implementation of article 76 to the Convention.  They do not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts, or prejudice the position of States which are parties to a land or maritime dispute, or application of other parts of the Convention or any other treaties.

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