63rd Session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

The 63rd session of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) will convene from 17 February to 21 March 2025. This session is the first under the Commission’s revised pattern of annual meetings in New York, where the Commission will meet for three sessions of five weeks each, including four weeks of plenary meetings and increased intersessional work.

The 63rd session will hold plenary meetings from 24-28 February and from 10-14 March. The remainder of the session will focus on technical examination of submissions by sub-commissions, including geographic information systems laboratories and other technical facilities of the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS).

The Commission facilitates the implementation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in respect to the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf where those limits extend beyond 200 nautical miles and makes recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of those limits. The Commission bases recommendations on scientific and technical data.

The Commission will hold meetings of all its members to exchange views on general scientific, technical, and procedural topics as needed. In addition, nine sub-commissions will consider submissions and revised submissions by Member States, including submissions made by Mauritius in respect of the region of Rodrigues Island; Palau in respect of the North Area; Portugal; Spain in respect of the area of Galicia; Namibia; Mozambique; and Madagascar; as well as revised submissions made by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Oriental and Meridional Margin; and Cook Islands concerning the Manihiki Plateau.

UNDOALOS serves as the Commission’s Secretariat. A body of 21 experts in the fields of geology, geophysics, or hydrography compose the Commission.

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