The international community celebrates the International Day of Women in Diplomacy on 24 June, recognizing the invaluable contributions of women to multilateral governance, international cooperation, conflict resolution, human rights and more. 

Kingston, Jamaica – 23 June 2026 – Madam Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, Leticia Carvalho, welcomed to Kingston the new Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea. 

Xiamen and Sanya, China (25-28 May  2026) – After a very productive mission to Fiji in May, I continued my journey flying to the People´s Republic of China. In Xiamen, a port city on the Southeast coast, I had the honour to address the 8th International Symposium on Scientific and Legal Aspects of the Regimes of the Continental Shelf and the Area, organized by the China Institute for Marine Affairs (CIMA) and the Second Institute of Oceanography (SIO), Ministry of Natural Resources of China. 

New York, USA – On Monday, 15 June 2026, Madam Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority delivered her statement to the States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS. Leticia Carvalho shared her remarks with the 172 Parties, comprising 171 States and the European Union.   

New York, 17 June 2026 – His Excellency Mr. Milan Jaya Nyamrajsingh Meetarbhan presented his credentials to Madam Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, Leticia Carvalho, as the new Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mauritius. 

Suva, Fiji – (18 – 21 May 2026) – My engagement in Suva, Fiji, as my first official visit to the Pacific as Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), was   long overdue   and of great strategic importance. The Pacific Small Island Developing States (Pacific SIDS) are central to ISA’s work. Their ocean heritage and their voice in the negotiations that will shape the rules that will govern the deep seabed for generations made this mission one of the most significant of my tenure. I came to listen and learn, and I left Suva with a clearer sense of both what the Authority can offer and what it can do better for Pacific SIDS.

Madam Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, Leticia Carvalho, shares a special message to celebrate World Oceans Day 2026:

Sanya, Hainan, China – 29 May 2026 – The International Seabed Authority (ISA)-China Joint Training and Research Centre (ISA-China JTRC) officially inaugurated its fourth training workshop today in Sanya, China. The workshop, titled “Cumulative Impact Assessment for Effective Protection of the Marine Environment in the Area: Methods, Case Studies, and Best Practices,” brings together 21 selected participants from developing countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and members of ISA’s Legal and Technical Commission (LTC), who are serving as lecturers and facilitators throughout the ten-day programme.

Brasília and Rio de Janeiro (4 – 8 May 2026) – “It was with a feeling of returning home and reconnecting with my roots that I travelled in early May to Brazil´s capital, Brasília, for a week filled with high-level meetings and faces new and familiar. 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (8-9 April 2026) – At the beginning of April, following a very busy last few weeks hosting Part I of the 31^st Council Session, I travelled to Rio de Janeiro to represent the International Seabed Authority (ISA) at the Ninth Ministerial Meeting of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic, known as ZOPACAS. As a Brazilian, there was something especially meaningful about participating in a gathering dedicated to the future of the South Atlantic and its respective 24 States from across Africa and Latin America. The South Atlantic is of strategic importance geopolitically, serving as a critical shipping alternative to the Red Sea and a major trade artery between the Americas, Europe and Asia. It is also a space in which developing coastal States have a strong stake in the evolution of multilateral ocean governance.

Kingston, Jamaica, 31 March, 2026 – Following my trip to the United Kingdom and Switzerland, I traveled to Brussels, Belgium where I had the opportunity to meet a number of stakeholders to increase understanding of the work and role of the ISA and hear from them regarding concerns and opportunities.

Kingston, Jamaica – 27 March 2026 – As I enter year two of my tenure as ISA Secretary-General, I feel that 2026 is off to a promising start, combining focused ambition, a spirit of collaboration, and principled pragmatism. These principles are guiding my engagement with Member States and how I am organizing the work of the Secretariat.  This aim is part of a broader effort to explain why we consider the framework ready for consolidation to ensure that the ISA can deliver its unique role as guardian and steward of the deep seabed. The focus is on coalescing progress towards completion of the legal framework to make the system operational and coherent, delivering for multilateralism and the promise of the common heritage of humankind. Just having closed Part One of the 31^st Session, I firmly believe that we saw these principles playing out in the negotiations and I am very pleased with the progress made. Please read my Council closing remarks here.

Kingston, Jamaica – 27 March 2026 – As I enter year two of my tenure as ISA Secretary-General, I feel that 2026 is off to a promising start, combining focused ambition, a spirit of collaboration, and principled pragmatism. These principles are guiding my engagement with Member States and how I am organizing the work of the Secretariat.  This aim is part of a broader effort to explain why we consider the framework ready for consolidation to ensure that the ISA can deliver its unique role as guardian and steward of the deep seabed. The focus is on coalescing progress towards completion of the legal framework to make the system operational and coherent, delivering for multilateralism and the promise of the common heritage of humankind. Just having closed Part One of the 31^st Session, I firmly believe that we saw these principles playing out in the negotiations and I am very pleased with the progress made. Please read my Council closing remarks here.

Yaoundé, Cameroon – 16 February 2026 – At the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Cameroon, I travelled to Yaoundé to open the inaugural in-person workshop of the African Academy for Deep Sea Diplomacy (ADSEA).

14 January 2025 – I recently undertook an official mission to Japan for a series of substantive engagements with government ministries, leading scientific institutions, philanthropic foundations and academic partners. The visit reaffirmed Japan’s long-standing and principled commitment to multilateral cooperation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its 1994 Implementing Agreement, as well as its expectation that the International Seabed Authority continues to provide legal certainty, a sound scientific basis and a stable platform for responsible ocean governance. 

I recently visited Singapore for a focused series of engagements with government, industry and knowledge partners. The mission reaffirmed Singapore’s support for multilateralism under UNCLOS, its growing leadership in ocean diplomacy, and its commitment to advancing coherent, science-based governance of the deep seabed.

New York, United States of America – 6 November 2025 – H.E. Justice (Retd) Jayantha Chandrasiri Jayasuriya, P.C., Permanent Representative of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, presented the original of his credentials to Ms. Leticia Carvalho, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), as the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the ISA during a ceremony held at the ISA Liaison Office in New York on 6 November 2025.

Kingston, 3 December 2025 – More than 160 participants representing over 35 countries from across the global deep-sea research community gathered for a high-level webinar entitled, “Celebrating Women in Deep-Sea Science and Technological Innovation: Creating Lasting Impact through Knowledge Transfer.” Co-hosted by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the Government of France, the event marked the culmination of the pilot cohort of the See Her Exceed (S.H.E.) Global Mentorship Programme, an initiative launched in 2023, dedicated to advancing women’s leadership, technical expertise, and participation in deep-sea scientific research.

Last week, I attended the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, together with a small team from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Office of Stewardship, Environment and Resources and Communications & Global Engagement Unit. From 7 to 13 June, the global ocean community came together to accelerate action and mobilize all actors in support of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.