CBD: Preparations for COP-11

The 15th meeting of the CBD's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) considered, among other items, a draft set of indicators for monitoring implementation of the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and measuring progress towards the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Participants also adopted the following eight recommendations to be forwarded to the COP-11:1) draft capacity-building strategy for the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI);
2) indicators and other tools and guidance for assessing progress in implementing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020;
3) ways and means to support ecosystem restoration;
4) proposals on ways and means to address gaps in international standards regarding invasive alien species (IAS) introduced as pets, aquarium and terrarium species, and as live bait and live food;
5) implications of changes in the water cycle and freshwater resources for the implementation of the work programmes on inland water biodiversity;
6) the sustainable use of biodiversity, including revised recommendations of the Liaison Group on Bushmeat, options for small-scale food and income alternatives, and a report on how to improve sustainable use in a landscape perspective;
7) Arctic biodiversity; and
8) ways and means to improve SBSTTA effectiveness.

The draft capacity-building strategy for the GTI will be considered by SBSTTA-16 scheduled for 30 April-4 May. The other recommendations will be submitted to COP-11, to be held from 8-19 October 2012, in Hyderbad (India).

ISD RS Coverage of Meeting

USA: National Ocean Council

As a first step in addressing the objectives of the National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes; the US National Ocean Council (NOC) recently released nine strategic action plan outlines for public review. The outlines address the following:

1. Ecosystem-Based Management

2. Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning

3. Inform Decisions and Improve Understanding

4. Coordinate and Support

5. Resiliency and Adaptation to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

6. Regional Ecosystem Protection and Restoration

7. Water Quality and Sustainable Practices on Land

8. Changing Conditions in the Arctic

9. Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Observations, Mapping, and Infrastructure

John Bellinger on UNCLOS and Arctic

Thanks to LOS News we are happy to transmit the following article by former State Department Legal Adviser John Bellinger that appeared on the Foreign Policy magazine website:

Arctic treasure

Posted By John B. Bellinger III   Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 11:24 AM

The following is a guest post by John B. Bellinger III, a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP and an adjunct senior fellow in international and national security law at the Council on Foreign Relations. John served as legal advisor for the Department of State from 2005 to 2009 and legal advisor to the National Security Council from 2001 to 2005. --Peter Feaver

Last Saturday, with U.S. gas prices at record highs, President Obama announced the administration's plans to boost domestic oil and gas production by expanding drilling and exploration in U.S. coastal waters, including in the Gulf of Mexico and off of Alaska. But the president missed an important opportunity to endorse an international agreement that would codify U.S. sovereign rights to vast additional oil and gas deposits under the Arctic Ocean off of Alaska: the Law of the Sea Convention. The omission was especially puzzling after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while participating in a summit of the eight Arctic Council countries held two days previously in Nuuk, Greenland, declared U.S. ratification of the treaty "way overdue." The president should capitalize on calls by congressional Republicans and the oil and gas industry to increase domestic oil and gas production by urging the Senate to ratify the convention this year.

The Law of the Sea Convention was negotiated in 1982 to provide a comprehensive legal framework to govern international activities in, over, and under the world's oceans. Today, 160countries are parties. The treaty guarantees all countries the right to freedom of navigation through and over the territorial seas of coastal states. With the largest fleet in the world, the U.S. Navy -- together with our Air Force, Army, Marines, and Coast Guard -- have long urged the Senate to approve the convention in order to codify their critical navigational rights, which are often challenged by other countries.

The treaty also gives coastal states sovereign rights to the fish and living marine resources in the ocean and oil, gas, and minerals under the seas within 200 miles of their coasts. And it gives coastal states additional rights to the oil, gas, and minerals on their continental shelves, but only if they prove to an international commission established by the convention that these geologic shelves extend more than 200 miles from their coasts.

The "extended continental shelf" of the United States extends more than 600 miles into the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Alaska, covering an area twice the size of California. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that this area contains nearly a hundred billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, as well as extensive deposits of valuable minerals.

The four other countries bordering the Arctic Ocean -- Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark -- have already enriched themselves and their people by tapping into their coastal oil and gas deposits and are staking claims to vast additional resources on their extended continental shelves in the Arctic. Norway's oil fund -- derived from revenues from oil and gas production in the North Sea -- is already worth $500 billion.

While these countries laugh all the way to the oil and gas bank, the U.S. sits on the sidelines unable to claim the resources on its extended continental shelf in the Arctic because it is not a party to the Law of the Sea treaty. U.S. oil and gas companies simply will not invest in these areas unless the U.S. has clear legal title. Unfortunately, a handful of Republican senators have blocked U.S. ratification of the treaty based on myths and misperceptions about the treaty. Even where their concerns may have some merit, they are heavily outweighed by the substantial national security and economic benefits to the American people of joining the treaty and the high costs of not joining.

Although the Law of the Sea treaty is complex, many Republicans who have considered the treaty carefully have endorsed it. The Bush administration -- which was rarely accused of overabundant enthusiasm about international law and institutions -- concluded after a lengthy internal review that the treaty is vital to U.S. economic and national security and urged the Senate to approve it. Even Sarah Palin, when she was governor of Alaska, strongly supported Senate approval, arguing that although "ratification of the convention has been thwarted by a small group of senators who are concerned about the perceived loss of U.S. sovereignty … I believe quite the contrary is true."

President Obama's apparent reluctance to push for Senate approval of the convention is understandable in light of competing legislative priorities and the uphill battle his administration experienced securing Senate approval of the New START treaty last December. But the president should seize the opportunity presented by Republican support for increased domestic oil and gas production to urge the Senate to approve the treaty.

Republican senators, industry groups, and corporations who quietly support the convention also need to play a more active role in championing it. They should rebut the myths and vigorously explain the substantial benefits of the treaty to undecided or skeptical senators, rather than leaving the work solely to the executive branch. And they should let the White House know they are prepared to support it.

Of all the treaties currently pending before the Senate, the Law of the Sea Convention offers the most extensive economic and national security advantages to the American people. There is still time on the Senate calendar this year to consider and approve it. President Obama should make it his administration's top treaty priority, and Senate Republicans should support its passage.

USA: Article discussing Arctic Council Ministerial and UNCLOS

The Anchorage Daily News published an article on May 21 titled "Summit shows US is Trying to Catch Up on Arctic issues" that provided some follow-up on the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting held in Nuuk (Greenland) and included a number of statements from John Bellinger and Lisa Murkowski on the need for the US to ratify UNCLOS.

Arctic: Expansion of World-Wide Navigational Warning System

The World-Wide Navigational Warning System has been expanded to the Arctic regions through the joint efforts of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), The IMO delineated five new Arctic navigational areas, and the WMO delineated five new meteorological areas in June 2010. The responsibility for the navigational and meteorological areas will be divided between Canada, Norway and the Russian Federation. Press Release