Headquarters Hosts Resumed Plenary of thirtieth Meeting of States Parties

NEW YORK, 10 December 2020 (United Nations, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs) ― The resumed in‑person plenary meeting of the thirtieth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was held at United Nations Headquarters on 9 December 2020, concluding all the items on the agenda of the thirtieth Meeting.  The background press release can be found here:  www.un.org/press/en/2020/sea2128.doc.htm.

The main goal of the meeting was to formally acknowledge and endorse the work that had been conducted through virtual meetings and exchanges of documents and statements, in accordance with the timetable and modalities for the consideration of pending items on the agenda of the thirtieth Meeting, as set out in the annex to the  letter dated 27 October 2020 from the President of the thirtieth Meeting, Ambassador Burhan Gafoor, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations: un.org/Depts/los/meeting_states_parties/documents/20201027NvLetEF.pdf.  Also, the in‑person meeting offered an opportunity to the representatives of States Parties to make statements under the agenda item of the Meeting entitled “Reports of the Secretary‑General under article 319 for the information of States parties on issues of a general nature, relevant to States parties, which have arisen with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” which had been reserved for in‑person deliberations.

Regarding the activities of the three bodies established by the Convention since the twenty‑ninth Meeting of States Parties in June 2019, the Meeting took note of the annual report of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as of the information provided by the Secretary‑General of the International Seabed Authority and the Chairperson of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

In its consideration of administrative and budgetary matters of the Tribunal, the Meeting took note with satisfaction of the report of the Tribunal on budgetary matters for the financial periods 2017‑2018 and 2018‑2019; appointed an auditor for the financial years 2021‑2024; and approved amendments to the Financial Regulations of the Tribunal, to be issued as  SPLOS/30/16.

Most importantly, the Meeting approved the budget of the Tribunal for the budget period 2021-2022 in the amount of €24,155,000, following of the report of Ambassador Ibrahima Toure (Côte d’Ivoire), Vice‑President of the Meeting, who had chaired on behalf of the President the Open-ended Working Group on Financial and Budgetary Matters.  The Decisions on the budget of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for 2021-2022 will be issued as document SPLOS/30/17.

The Meeting also took note of report of the Co‑Coordinators of the Open‑ended Working Group on the Conditions of Service of the Members of the Commission on the work conducted by the Open‑ended Working Group since the twenty‑ninth Meeting, which had focused in particular on options to address the working conditions of the Commission that were identified in a study prepared by the Secretariat at the request of the twenty‑ninth Meeting (document SPLOS/30/11). The Meeting requested the Open‑ended Working Group to continue to work intersessionally and report to the thirty‑first Meeting of States Parties.

In considering the issue of the long-term vacancy in the Commission, the Meeting decided, upon the request of the Group of Eastern European States, to provide additional time to that Group to identify possible candidates to be nominated to fill this vacancy, similarly to the decisions taken at the twenty‑seventh, twenty‑eighth and twenty‑ninth Meetings in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The Meeting also took note of the note prepared by the Secretariat entitled “Practice of the Secretary-General in respect of the deposit of charts and/or lists of geographical coordinates of points under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” (document SPLOS/30/12) and of the information on trust funds and fellowships provided by the Secretariat.

Under article 319 of the Convention, the Meeting considered the reports of the Secretary‑General for the information of States Parties on issues of a general nature, relevant to States Parties, which have arisen with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.  In their interventions, the representatives of States Parties and one observer expressed appreciation for the reports contained in documents A/74/350, A/75/70 and A/75/340 and for the important work of the three bodies established under the Convention.  They addressed a wide range of issues, including the role of the Convention in maintaining international peace and security, reinforcing friendly relations among States and ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and marine resources; marine scientific research; protection of the marine environment; impacts of climate change on the ocean, including sea‑level rise; Sustainable Development Goal 14; the blue economy; migration by sea; maritime security and safety, including piracy and other crimes at sea; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; national and regional initiatives addressing challenges faced in maritime zones; and the need for capacity‑building, transfer of marine technology and cross‑sectoral cooperation and coordination.

Delegations also highlighted the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic on ocean‑related processes and activities and emphasized the plight of seafarers in this regard, which was also underscored by the Secretary‑General in a letter dated 12 October 2020 addressed to the President of the Meeting (see document SPLOS/30/15) and in General Assembly resolution 75/17 of 1 December 2020 on International cooperation to address challenges faced by seafarers as a result of the COVID‑19 pandemic to support global supply chains.  Delegations also welcomed the intersessional work for the Intergovernmental Conference, under the auspices of the United Nations, to consider the recommendations of the Preparatory Committee established by resolution 69/292 of 19 June 2015 on the elements and to elaborate the text of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction and the report of the Secretary-General on oceans and the law of the sea prepared for the United Nations Open‑ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, with a focus on “Sea‑level rise and its impacts”.

A more detailed account of the proceedings of the plenary meeting of the thirtieth Meeting of States Parties will be included in an addendum to the report of the Meeting, to be issued in due course as document SPLOS/30/14/Add.1.

For further information on the Meeting, including its documents, please see the website of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs:  www.un.org/Depts/los/meeting_states_parties/thirtiethmeetingstatesparties.htm.