New Delhi, 31 January 2023 – The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge and the Director General of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, signed a letter of cooperation during a ceremony held at the Office of RIS in New Delhi yesterday. The letter of cooperation formalizes a new strategic partnership to facilitate joint activities between the two organizations. These will be implemented at the national, regional and international level to support the priorities of interested developing States to foster their blue economy and contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda.
The development of dedicated initiatives to build and develop the capacities of developing States in the fields of ocean governance and marine scientific research, the organization of thematic workshops and seminars, and dedicated actions to facilitate the participation of women scientists from developing States with deep-sea-related skills in research and technology-oriented programmes are some of the different activities that will be jointly designed and implemented.
“This new partnership formalized today with RIS is another significant progress made towards fostered institutional collaboration at the global, regional and national level to support meaningful actions to advance the knowledge base and capacity of developing States in the work that ISA and its Member States do,” noted the ISA Secretary-General during the signing ceremony.
“I trust this new collaboration will bring significant added value to the work that the Secretariat is doing to address the priority needs identified by our Members. I particularly welcome future dedicated actions with RIS to advance further women’s empowerment and leadership in the field of ocean affairs in India and the region,” he added.
Professor Sachin Chaturvedi underscored the importance of the partnership with ISA to foster RIS’s work programme on the blue economy. “RIS has developed expertise in national income accounting for the blue economy and has provided a knowledge base for the Government of India for the upcoming blue economy policy,” he said, further noting that “RIS-ISA collaboration in ocean-related sectors may be seen in the context of India’s G20 Presidency as a contribution to the 2030 Agenda, especially the Science, Technology and Innovation programme for SDG-14. The collaborative efforts of the two institutions would advance India’s blue economy and the South-South cooperation roadmap.”
As India assumes the Presidency of the G20 for 2023, ISA and RIS will work together to contribute to vital discussions on the potential that deep-seabed economic activities have in driving the development of a sustainable blue economy in India and the region.
This collaboration will contribute to the implementation of strategic priorities for ISA. It will act as a stepping stone towards furthering the effective implementation of the Action Plan for Marine Scientific Research in support of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the Capacity Development Strategy.
Notes to editors
About RIS
India has been a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and a Member of ISA since 1995. The Government of India holds two contracts with ISA for the exploration for polymetallic nodules (since 2002) and polymetallic sulphides (since 2016) in the Indian Ocean. India also has a seat as a Member of the Council of ISA until 2024.
RIS is an autonomous policy research institute based in New Delhi, India, that specializes in issues related to international economic development, trade, investment and technology. It is envisioned as a forum for fostering effective policy dialogue and capacity-building among developing countries on global and regional economic issues.
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 the potential resources it holds for a global green energy transition. 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 during discussions on the sustainable development of the deep seabed.
Contact
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Stefanie Neno, Communications Specialist, ISA, sneno@isa.org.jm
—————
For more information, visit our website www.isa.org.jm or follow us on Twitter @ISBAHQ.