Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes Sixty-Second Session

NEW YORK, 25 November (United Nations, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea) ― The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its sixty-second session at United Nations Headquarters from 7 October to 22 November 2024. 

No plenary meetings were held during the seven-week session entirely devoted to the technical examination of submissions at the geographic information systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the Division.  Commission members also participated in internal exchanges of views on general scientific, technical, and other relevant topics.

Twelve submissions were considered by subcommissions during the session, namely the submissions made by Mauritius in respect of the region of Rodrigues Island (partial submission); Palau in respect of the North Area (partial amended submission); Portugal; Spain in respect of the area of Galicia (partial submission); Namibia; Cuba in respect of the eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico; Mozambique; and Madagascar; as well as revised submissions made by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Equatorial Margin (partial revised submission); the Cook Islands concerning the Manihiki Plateau (revised submission); Iceland in respect of the western, southern and south-eastern parts of the Reykjanes Ridge (partial revised submission); and Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Oriental and Meridional Margin (partial revised submission).

The subcommissions also met with the delegations of the Cook Islands, Cuba, Iceland, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Portugal and Spain. 

Underscoring the importance that submitting States attach to the Commission’s work, delegations were represented at the high level:  the delegation of Cuba included the Deputy Foreign Minister, Carlos Fernandez de Cossío Domínguez; and the delegation of Mozambique included the Minister of Sea, Inland Waters, and Fisheries, Lídia de Fátima da Graça Cardoso, and the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, António Saíde.

In 2025, the Commission is scheduled to hold three sessions:  sixty-third session from 17 February to 21 March, with the plenary parts of the session to be held from 24 to 28 February and from 10 to 14 March; the sixty-fourth session from 7 July to 8 August, with the plenary parts of the session to be held from 14 to 18 July and from 28 July to 1 August; and the sixty-fifth session from 20 October to 21 November, without plenary parts. 

Prior to the beginning of the session, on 4 October 2024, the revised Rules of Procedure of the Commission were issued as CLCS/40/Rev.2.

Further details of the sixty-second session will be available in the Statement of the Chairperson of the Commission (document CLCS/62/1).

The background press release on this session is available at press.un.org/en/2024/sea2201.doc.htm.

Background

Established pursuant to article 2 of annex II to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Commission makes recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, based on information submitted by those coastal States.

The recommendations are based on the scientific data and other material provided by coastal States in relation to the implementation of article 76 of the Convention and do not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts or prejudice the position of States that are parties to a land or maritime dispute, or application of other parts of the Convention or any other treaties.

The limits of the continental shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of the recommendations are final and binding.  In the case of disagreement by a coastal State with the recommendations of the Commission, the coastal State shall, within a reasonable time, make a revised or new submission to the Commission. 

Under rule 23 of its rules of procedure (Public and private meetings), the meetings of the Commission, its subcommissions and subsidiary bodies are held in private, unless the Commission decides otherwise.

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 in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography serving in their personal capacities.  Members are elected for a term of five years by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention having due regard to the need to ensure equitable geographical representation.  Not fewer than three members shall be elected from each geographical region.

Currently, two seats on the Commission are vacant as a result of the resignation of Miloud Loukili (Morocco) and a long-standing vacancy resulting from a lack of nominations from the Group of Eastern European States.  A by-election to fill these vacancies is scheduled to be held at a resumed thirty-fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on 27 November 2024. 

The Convention provides that the State party which submitted the nomination of a member of the Commission shall defray the expenses of that member while in performance of Commission duties.  A voluntary trust fund for the purpose of defraying the cost of participation of the members of the Commission from developing countries has been established.  It has facilitated the participation of several members of the Commission from developing countries in the sessions of the Commission.

The convening by the Secretary-General of the sessions of the Commission, with full conference services, including documentation, for the plenary parts of these sessions, is subject to approval by the United Nations General Assembly.  The Assembly does so in its annual resolutions on oceans and the law of the sea, which also address other matters relevant to the work of the Commission and the conditions of service of its members.

For additional information on the work of the Commission, see the website of the Division at:  www.un.org/depts/los/index.htm.  In particular, the most recent Statements by the Chair on the progress in the work of the Commission are available at:  www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/commission_documents.