Following the General Assembly’s March 2020 decision to postpone the fourth (and possibly final) session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) due to the pandemic, Conference President Rena Lee today announced an intersessional work program “to maintain the momentum of the process” given that the earliest possible date for the conference is now 2021.
Lee explained that the program is not a substitute for negotiations that will resume at the next conference, but is rather intended to help delegations enhance their understanding of the issues and views of different participants. The program will commence with a Sept. 14 briefing, followed by informal bilateral consultations with interested delegations in October and November and 5 focused discussions on environmental impact assessments (September), marine genetic resources (October), area-based management tools (November), and capacity-building/transfer of marine technology and cross-cutting issues (December).
