The STRONG High Seas project took part in the third session of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (IGC 3), which took place 19-30 August at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA.
This third session of formal negotiations was the first time that delegates discussed a draft negotiation text, which created momentum to move forward on the four elements forming the basis for the negotiations, namely: marine genetic resources (MGRs), area-based management tools (ABMTs), environmental impact assessments (EIAs), and capacity building and the transfer of marine technology.
The STRONG High Seas project had a strong representation at IGC 3, with several representatives from CPPS and Abidjan Convention country representatives and secretariats, implementing partners and friends present at the negotiations.
STRONG High Seas representatives took part in the side event co-organised by Palau and Japan on 23 August 2019 titled ‘Transnational cooperation for addressing BBNJ – empirical lessons of small island developing States’ and in the ‘One Ocean’ Symposium co-organised by Griffith University, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) and Nereus Programme on 24 August 2019.
The STRONG High Seas project also co-hosted together with Germany, the Secretariats of the Abidjan Convention and Permanent Commission for the South Pacific (CPPS), and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) a workshop titled ‘Building Capacities for Regional Ocean Governance: Marine Genetic Resources and Area-based Management Tools’ on 25 August 2019, to which about 40 representatives from international organisations, academia, and NGOs as well as UN negotiators from the Southeast Pacific, Southeast Atlantic and Southwest Pacific regions attended. More on this workshop can be found here.
The STRONG High Seas project (‘Strengthening Regional Ocean Governance for the High Seas’) is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
