The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) will resume Day 2 of its meetings under Part III of the 28th session on Tuesday, 31 October, following a 5.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred at 10:40AM local time in Jamaica yesterday.
As per procedures in place, the ISA Secretariat has engaged with relevant national authorities to secure the ISA headquarters and adjacent venue, the Jamaica Conference Centre, where Part III of the Council of the 28th session is taking place.
Upon proposal of the President of the Council for the 28th session, Ambassador González Mijares and the ISA Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, the meeting was adjourned to enable delegates to rest in the afternoon of Monday, 30 October 2023.
Having received confirmation from national authorities engaged in a thorough inspection conducted on the different areas of the Jamaica Conference Centre that the earthquake had caused no major structural damage and that it was safe for delegates to re-enter the premises, delegates were informed that the meetings of the Council would resume on Tuesday, 31 October 2023 at 10:00AM local time.
The meetings of the Council will last eight days, from 30 October to 8 November 2023. As per the road map agreed upon at the meetings in November 2022 and revised in July 2023, the priority set out by the Council is to continue to advance the negotiations on the draft regulations relating to the exploitation of mineral resources in the Area prepared by the Legal and Technical Commission of ISA and submitted to the Council in March 2019 (ISBA/25/C/WP.1).
Twenty-nine Council members and 17 ISA Members who are not on the Council are in attendance. Nineteen delegations of observers are also following the discussions. All parts of the meeting are accessible on the dedicated ISA WEB TV in all six languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish).
About ISA
ISA is an autonomous international organization mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to protect the seabed for the shared benefit of humankind. ISA is committed to the principle that all nations of the world should be able to benefit from responsible, sustainable, and regulated economic activities in the deep seabed and from the potential resources the deep seabed holds for a global green transition. The ISA works to ensure that the voices of all states and stakeholders, including developing states, civil society organizations and all ISA Member States, are effectively heard in discussions around the sustainable development of the deep seabed.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Jaimie Abbott, Communications Specialist, ISA, jabbott@isa.org.jm