8 March 2011: The UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (UNDOALOS) will hold an informal preparatory meeting for the 12th meeting of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (ICP 12) on 9 March 2011, in New York, US.

ICP 12 will be held at UN Headquarters in New York, US, from 20-24 June 2011, and will focus its discussions on “Contributing to the assessment, in the context of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, of progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development and addressing new and emerging challenges.”

Participants at the informal preparatory meeting will consider the draft format and draft agenda for ICP 12, as well as draft areas of concentration for the discussion panel. In particular, it is proposed that the panel segment on the overview of progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development concentrate its discussions on progress in specific relevant sectors such as sustainable fisheries, shipping, conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity, control of marine pollution, and marine science and transfer of marine technology. It is also suggested that it would also highlight specific developments in relation to small island developing States (SIDS).

It is further proposed that the panel segment on the road to Rio+20 and beyond provide an opportunity to consider how to enhance potential synergies between the discussions on oceans and the law of the sea and on sustainable development, including through the promotion of coordination and cooperation with the view to making a contribution to the Rio 2012 Summit and the review of the oceans by the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in 2014. It is also suggested that it discuss concrete steps that could be taken to ensure that oceans and seas are central to the sustainable development agenda at the global, regional and national levels. [Meeting Website]