The first part of the 25th annual session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) will consist of a meeting of the ISA Council convening from 25 February-1 March 2019 and a meeting of the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) from 4-15 March 2019, in Kingston, Jamaica. The meeting arrangement follows the revised schedule, decided at the 23rd session, which is expected to increase transparency and engender a mutually responsive dialogue between the LTC and the Council.

Representatives from Member States, civil society organizations and contractors, gathered at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, this week, for an open ended informal working group meeting established to advance discussions on the financial model for mineral exploitation in the international deep seabed area.

Governments officials and experts from Pacific Small Island Developing States (P-SIDS) convened at a regional workshop held in Nuku’alofa, Kingdom of Tonga this week, to strengthen national and regional capacities to access sustainably and benefit from seabed activities and therefore, from the Blue Economy.

International Seabed Authority (ISA)’s Secretary-General Mr Michael Lodge is in the Kingdom of Tonga this week to attend a regional workshop jointly organised by ISA and UNDESA with the support of the Kingdom of Tonga to discuss increased participation of P-SIDS in activities undertaken in the international seabed area as well as identifying the capacity-building needs of the Pacific sponsoring States. 

Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In recent decades, the international community has made great strides in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Yet many challenges remain. According to UNESCO, women today account for only 38 per cent of the world’s researchers in ocean science, and the rate is even lower for women from developing countries. 

The Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) will open on the 25 February 2019 for the first part of its 25th annual session in Kingston, Jamaica, with Member States set to continue their discussions around the draft exploitation regulations for commercial deep seabed mining, which will include proposals for the payment mechanism for mineral exploitation. Policy discussions concerning key areas from the draft regulations will be the main focus of deliberations.

The World Maritime University (WMU) and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their cooperation with a view, among other things, to advance achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14. The focus is on improving education and capacity-building initiatives in marine science.