The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) closed the meetings of Part II of its 28th session on Friday, 21 July 2023. The Council met in person for ten days. A total of 32 of the 36 Members of the Council were in attendance, along with 23 other Members and 20 observers. The negotiations of the draft regulations on the exploitation of mineral resources in the Area (ISBA/25/C/WP.1) remained the main item on the agenda. The Council also continued to discuss other important matters, including the operationalization of the Enterprise.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is pleased to launch Deep Dive, its new e-learning platform entirely dedicated to addressing both technical and scientific aspects of the legal regime set out in Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 1994 Implementation Agreement and the rules, regulations and procedures adopted by ISA for activities in the international seabed area (the Area).

The Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is inviting Members and stakeholders of ISA to nominate experts to participate in the intersessional expert group to develop binding environmental threshold values.

The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) opened the meetings of Part II of its 28th session on Monday, 10 July 2023. The Council will be meeting for ten days until 21 July 2023. As per the roadmap agreed upon at the meetings in November 2022, 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). The Council will also discuss other important matters, including the report on the outcome of the intersessional dialogue and working group discussions held since the end of Part I of the 28th session, the reports of the Legal and Technical Commission and the Finance Committee, and the operationalization of the Enterprise and the Economic Planning Commission.

On 7 July 2023, the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) and the Finance Committee (FC) of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) closed their meetings under the second part of the 28th session of ISA in Kingston, Jamaica.

On 6 July 2023, the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) hosted the fourth ceremony to present the end-of-training certificates to nationals from developing States who benefitted from opportunities provided by ISA exploration contractors under the Contractors’ Training Programme (CTP) between July and December 2022. The ceremony was held in a hybrid format. Members of the Legal and Technical Commission and ISA Secretariat attended the ceremony in Kingston, Jamaica, while contractors and trainees joined online.

H.E. Ms. Angella Comfort presented her credentials to the Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, as the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to ISA, during a ceremony held in Kingston, Jamaica, on 6 July 2023.

The fifth workshop organized within the Abyssal Initiative for Blue Growth (#OceanAction40974) successfully concluded yesterday. The participants gained an increased understanding of the concept of the common heritage of humankind and equitable sharing of benefits arising from activities in the international seabed area (the Area).

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) successfully hosted two successive workshops organized with the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS) at ISA’s headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, between 12 and 16 June 2023.