Sensitization seminar on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the work of the Authority and on marine mineral resources of the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean

26 Nov 2008 - 28 Nov 2008

Where: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date:    26-28 November 2008

Agenda | Participants | General Information |

A sensitization seminar on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the work of the Authority and on marine mineral resources of the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean, was convened by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the International Seabed Authority from 26 to 28 November 2008, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In addition to sensitizing participants to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the institutions created under it, the seminar addressed the current state of development of deep seabed mineral resources with a focus on the mineral resources of the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean.

The seminar heard presentations by contractors with the Authority on exploration for polymetallic nodules in the Area, and presentations by other experts on efforts to commercialize deep seabed marine mineral resources such as, polymetallic sulphides, cobalt-rich rich ferromanganese crusts and methane hydrates and  include presentations on Brazil’s offshore oil and gas industry.

The seminar was held at the Hotel Pestanta, Rio de Janeiro in November 2008  and included representatives from Brazil, China, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Ghana, Nigeria, Japan, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and Uruguay.

In recent years, Brazil has been the leader of several regional initiatives to study the South West Atlantic, such as the regional component (Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina) of the Programme on Ocean Science in relation to Non Living Resources (OSNLR), a global study shared with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC UNESCO) and the Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS ).

At the seminar, participants developed a proposal for collaboration by the states bordering the South and Equatorial Atlantic Ocean for increased research on the mineral resources in that particular part of the Are