From 24-26 June 2024, the Preparatory Commission for the Entry into Force of the Agreement 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 and the Convening of the First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Agreement (PrepCom) convened its first organizational session at UNHQ (New York, USA) to, among others, elect Co-Chairs and Bureau Members, adopt a programme of work, and schedule PrepCom’s future meetings. Information on the establishment and participation in the PrepCom was previously reported.
Janine Coye-Felson (Belize) and Adam McCarthy (Australia) were elected Co-Chairs of the PrepCom. 15 Vice-Chairs to the Bureau of the PrepCom were elected, including: Mauritius, Sierra Leone and South Africa (African); Japan, Philippines, and Singapore (Asia-Pacific); Latvia, Poland, and Romania (Eastern Europe); Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, and Chile (Latin America and the Caribbean); Canada, Belgium, and Germany (Western European and Others). Note, the three members of the Bureau of the Asia-Pacific Group will rotate among nine States: Singapore, Japan and the Philippines (PrepCom organizational meeting); Tonga, China and Indonesia (PrepCom first substantive meeting); and Fiji, the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam (PrepCom second substantive meeting).
Discussion on the programme of work were based on a Note produced by the Secretariat (UN Doc A/AC.296/2024/3), which highlighted matters to be addressed by the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to BBNJA, as according to the BBNJA (Section II), as well as matters requiring ‘early’ addressing to enable “the timely and effective implementation of the Agreement” (Section III). A final list of three clusters reportedly address: Governance Issues; Issues pertaining to the operation of the CHM; and Financial rules, and financial resources and mechanism (see IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin (2024) p. 5, for an overview of cluster items).
Scheduling future PrepCom meetings, 14-25 April 2025 and 18-29 August 2025 were agreed, pending the approval of the UN General Assembly and reserving additional meetings to be determined at a later stage. Intersessional work is foreseen, with discussions ongoing.
A Statement by the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (24 June 2024) highlighted the benefits a PrepCom could bring to the functioning of the treaty regime, as well as the previous experiences of the Preparatory Commission for UNCLOS.
De Maribus 