Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes Forty-third Session

The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its forty-third session at United Nations Headquarters from 30 January to 17 March.

The Commission devoted three weeks of that session to plenary meetings (13 to 17 February and 6 to 17 March).  During the four remaining weeks, the Commission, working through its subcommissions, continued 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, Office of Legal Affairs.

On 10 March, the Commission held an open meeting at United Nations Headquarters, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in order to mark the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the Commission, to highlight the work it carried out in these two decades and to reflect on the relationship between the Commission and the other two treaty bodies established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea — namely the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (see Press Release SEA/2047).  Representatives of States parties to the Convention and of Observer States to the Meeting of States Parties, the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, the President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and former members of the Commission attended the open meeting.  For more information on the open meeting, including links to the presentations, please visit www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/clcsopen_2017.htm.

Ten active subcommissions held meetings during the forty-third session.  These were the subcommissions established for consideration of the submissions 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); Argentina (partial revised submission); France and South Africa, jointly, in respect of the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands; Kenya; Nigeria; Seychelles in respect of the Northern Plateau Region; France in respect of La Réunion Island and Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands; Côte d'Ivoire; and Sri Lanka.

At the plenary level, the delegations of Argentina and Sri Lanka made presentations on the contents of their respective submissions.

The Commission commenced its consideration of two sets of draft recommendations transmitted to it during the session by the respective subcommissions.  These were the draft recommendations in regard to the submissions made by (i) Argentina (partial revised submission) and (ii) Seychelles in respect of the Northern Plateau Region.  The delegations of these submitting States made their final presentations on matters related to their submissions to the plenary of the Commission.  The Commission also continued its consideration of three sets of recommendations which had commenced at the forty-first session.  These were the draft recommendations in regard to:  (i) the submission made by Norway in respect of Bouvetøya and Dronning Maud Land; (ii) the joint submission made by the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, concerning the Ontong Java Plateau; and (iii) the submission made by South Africa in respect of the mainland of the territory of the Republic of South Africa.

The Commission adopted, without a vote, three sets of recommendations, namely the recommendations in regard to:  the submission made by Argentina (partial revised submission); joint submission made by the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, concerning the Ontong Java Plateau; and the submission made by South Africa in respect of the mainland of the territory of the Republic of South Africa.  The members of the Commission held differing views concerning the draft recommendations in regard to the submission made by Norway in respect of Bouvetøya.  Ultimately, these draft recommendations were put to vote and were not approved.  The Commission therefore decided to defer further consideration of this matter to its forty-fourth session.  The Commission also decided to defer further consideration of the draft recommendations in regard of the submission made by Seychelles in respect of the Northern Plateau Region to that session.

As one of the subcommissions — that established for consideration of the submission made by Seychelles — had completed its work, the Commission decided that a new subcommission could be established to consider the submission made by Portugal on 11 May 2009.  However, in view of the forthcoming election of 21 members of the Commission to be held at the twenty-seventh Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in June, the Commission decided that the appointment of the members of the subcommission would take place at the beginning of the forthcoming forty-fourth session, which will be held from 24 July to 8 September.  The list of candidates for this election is available at www.un.org/Depts/los/meeting_states_parties/twentyseventhmeetingstatesparties.htm.

In 2017, the Commission is scheduled to hold two more sessions as follows:  the forty-fourth session will be held, as mentioned above, from 24 July to 8 September, with plenary sessions on 24 July, from 28 July to 3 August, and on 1 September; and the forty-fifth session will be held from 16 October to 1 December, without plenary sessions.

As required under the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all 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.

Additional information about the forty-third 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/98.

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