Prospecting, Exploration and Exploitation of Deep Seabed Mineral Resources in the Area : Challenges for the Caribbean and Opportunities for Collaboration

28 Mar 2011 - 30 Mar 2011

| Agenda | Participants | Speakers | Recommendations |

The seminar is being jointly hosted by the International Seabed Authority and the Government of Jamaica and will be held in Conference Room 3 of the Jamaica Conference Centre from 28-30 March 2011.

It will highlight the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1994 Implementation Agreement, the institutions created under the Convention;  the international framework and regulation of deep seabed: the role of the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; and address the current state of development of deep seabed mineral resources, with emphasis on marine mineral resources of the Area – the challenges and collaboration opportunities for the Caribbean.

Presentations will be made by experts on the process and status of the legal regimes established for recovery of these minerals, the types of minerals to be found in the Area, resource evaluation, the protection and preservation of the marine environment from prospecting, exploration and mining in the Area and the Authority’s Endowment Fund promoting and encouraging marine scientific research in the Area.

There will also be a separate session on the possible areas of collaboration to promote Marine Scientific Research amongst Caribbean States.

Similar sensitization seminars have been held in Indonesia (2007), Brazil (2008), Nigeria (2009) and Spain (2010).

In Brazil, participants developed a proposal for collaborations by the states bordering the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean for increased research on the mineral resources in this part of the Area. In Nigeria, participants recommended that the International Seabed Authority address the African Union to sensitize policymakers on marine mineral resources of the Area and encouraged all African countries to participate in the global programme to realize the benefits accruable utilizing the resources in the Area as described in UNCLOS Article 136 as the “Common Heritage of Mankind”.

For further information regarding the seminar please contact James A.R. McFarlane, Head of the Office of Resources and Environmental Management (OREM) of the International Seabed Authority or Ms Janice Miller and Ms. Nicholette Williams of the Jamaica Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Speakers

• H.E. the Honourable Dr. Kenneth Baugh, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
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• H.E. Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Jamaica to the UN
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• H.E Ambassador Satya N. Nandan, Chairman of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
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• Mr. Nii A Odunton, Secretary-General, International Seabed Authority
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• Judge L. Dolliver M. Nelson, 51 Exeter House, Putney Heath, London
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• Mr. Noel Newton St. Claver Francis, Franmark Gas and Lubricants Company, Kingston, Jamaica
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• Mr. Julio Baez, Senior Legal Officer, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, United Nations Headquarters
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• Dr. Jin Jiancai,  Secretary-General, China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association, Beijing, China
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• Mr. Michael Lodge, Legal Counsel, International Seabed Authority
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• Dr. S. Kim Juniper, BC Leadership Chair in Ocean Ecosystems and Global Change, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Department of Biology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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• Dr. Vijay Kodagali, Senior Scientific Affairs Officer, Marine Geology, International Seabed Authority
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• Dr. Adam Cook, Scientific Affairs Officer, Marine Biology, International Seabed Authority
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• Mr. Coye Roache, Managing Director, Bauxite and Alumina Trading Company of Jamaica Ltd., Kingston, Jamaica
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• Dr. Ray Binns, CSIRO, Exeter NSW 2579, Australia
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• Mr. Mike Johnston, Vice President, Nautilus Minerals, Corporate Development, Queensland, Australia
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• Honourable Mr. Justice Winston Anderson, Caribbean Court of Justice, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
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• Dr. Jorge Cortés, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR), Ciudad de la Investigación, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
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• Ms. Claudia S. de Windt, Senior Legal Specialist, Chief Environmental Law, Policy and Good Governance, Department of Sustainable Development, Organization of American States, Washington, D.C.
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