Calendar of meetings for 2020

UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS | INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY

 

UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS

 

Dates

Meeting 

27 January to 13 March 2020
(seven weeks)

Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf Fifty-second session
  • 27 to 31 January (Subcommissions) (one week)
  • 3 to 7 February (Plenary part) (one week)
  • 10 to 28 February (Subcommissions) (three weeks)
  • 2 to 6 March (Plenary part) (one week)
  • 9 to 13 March (Subcommissions) (one week)

4 to 5 February 2020
(two days)

Preparatory meeting – UN Ocean Conference

23 March to 3 April 2020
(10 days)

Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction - Fourth session
The General Assembly, by decision 74/543 of 11 March 2020 (provisionally available as A/74/L.41), decided to postpone the fourth session of the Conference to the earliest possible available date to be decided by the General Assembly.

19 to 21 May 2020
(three days)

Informal Consultations of States Parties to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (ICSP/15): 15th round Following consultations amongst States, the fifteenth round of Informal Consultations of States Parties to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement has been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2 to 6 June 2020
(five days)

UN Ocean Conference
Lisbon, Portugal
In light of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and growing public health concerns, the 2020 United Nations Ocean Conference, which was scheduled to take place from 2 to 6 June in Lisbon, Portugal, has been postponed per decision 74/548 adopted by the General Assembly on Monday, 13 April 2020 at 3:01 p.m. Co-hosts of the Conference Kenya and Portugal in consultation with the General Assembly will decide on possible future dates for the Conference, including timelines for the preparatory process.

8 June 2020

World Oceans Day
Virtual Event Information will be made available on www.UNworldoceansday.org

1 to 11 June 2020

UNFCCC fifty-second session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice
(during which a dialogue on ocean and climate change to consider how to strengthen mitigation and adaptation action in this context will be held)

6 July 2020 (opening)
24 August (plenary meeting for
ITLOS elections) (three days)
30 October-9 December
(Deliberations through virtual platforms, written exchanges and in person)

Meeting of States Parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – 30th meeting In light of the situation concerning COVID-19, the States Parties of the Convention have endorsed a proposal to postpone the thirtieth Meeting of States Parties. The in-person plenary elections were held from 24 to 26 August at the GA Hall. Deliberations through virtual platforms, written exchanges and in person will be held from 30 Octobre to 9 December.
Schedule/details on virtual meetings has been sent to delegates. For more information, please contact doalos@un.org.

22 to 26 June 2020
(five days, eight meetings)

United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Ocean and the Law of the Sea – 21st meeting Following a decision by the Co-Chairs of the Informal Consultative process forwarded to all Member States by a letter from the President of the General Assembly dated 1 May 2020, the twenty-first meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Ocean and the Law of the Sea has been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

6 July to 21 August 2020
(seven weeks)

Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
Fifty-third session
  • 6 to 24 July (Subcommissions) (three weeks)
  • 27 to 30 July (Plenary part) (one week)
  • 3 to 7 August (Subcommissions) (one week)
  • 10 to 14 August (Plenary part) (one week)
  • 17 to 21 August (Subcommissions) (one week)
  • In light of the situation concerning COVID-19, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has decided not to hold its fifty-third session at United Nations Headquarters in New York as originally scheduled. See CLCS/30/10/Add.1

    5 to 6 August 2020
    (two days)

    Workshop to discuss the implementation of paragraphs 113, 117 and 119 to 124 of resolution 64/72, paragraphs 121, 126, 129, 130 and 132 to 134 of resolution 66/68 and paragraphs 156, 171, 175, 177 to 188 and 219 of resolution 71/123on sustainable fisheries, addressing the impacts of bottom fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the long-term sustainability of deep-sea fish stocks
    In light of the situation concerning COVID-19 and as set out in in the letter dated 25 June from the Moderator of the Bottom Fishing Workshop to the President of the General Assembly, delegations have agreed that the Workshop should be postponed to a later date, to be determined by the seventy-fifth session of the General Assembly later this year.

    9 and 10 Sept 2020
    (two days)

    Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects – 13th meeting(by correspondence)

    7 Oct to 24 Nov 2020
    (seven weeks)

    Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
    Fifty-fourth session (Subcommissions only)
    In light of the situation concerning COVID-19, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has decided not to hold its fifty-fourth session at United Nations Headquarters in New York as originally scheduled.

    6 November 2020 (one day)

    Ad Hoc Working Group of the Whole on the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects – 14th meeting

     

            Tentative schedule for the informal consultations on the draft resolutions under agenda item
    “Oceans and the law of the sea” (Seventy-fifth session, 2020)

     

    (a) Oceans and the law of the sea

     (b) Sustainable fisheries

    First round
    30 September to 2 October 2020
    (three days)
    In light of the situation concerning COVID-19, it had been agreed by the Coordinator
    and delegates that the informal consultations for the first
    round will be taken up through virtual meetings and correspondence.

     

    Second round
    18 to 24 November 2020
    (five days)
    In light of the situation concerning COVID-19, it had been agreed by the Coordinator
    and delegates that the informal consultations for the second round will be taken up through virtual meetings and correspondence.

    9 to 17 November 2020

    (seven days)
    In light of the situation concerning COVID-19, it had been agreed by the Coordinator and delegates that the informal consultations will be taken up through correspondence and informal virtual meetings if necessary.

     

     

    INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY
    Kingston, Jamaica

    The International Seabed Authority (ISA) announced that the second part of the 26th session of ISA initially scheduled to be held in July 2020 will be postponed, due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The session will instead take place in a reduced format in Kingston, Jamaica from 7 to 16 October 2020, with meetings of some of the technical bodies convened remotely starting from July 2020. For more info, please visit: https://www.isa.org.jm/news/twenty-sixth-session-international-seabed-authority-part-2-postponed-october-2020
    Update as of 2 Sept ISA/EOSG/2020/125 - the dates scheduled in October 2020 will be rescheduled to a later date in 2020, most likely by early December 2020.

     

    Dates

    Meeting

    17 to 21 February 2020
    24 February to 6 March 2020
    6 to 17 July 2020
    20 to 24 July 2020
    27 to 31 July 2020

    Council (26th session) – first part
    Legal and Technical Commission – first part
    Legal and Technical Commission – second part
    Council (26th session) – second part
    Assembly (26th session)



    * Meetings will be held in New York, unless otherwise stated.