13 May 2012: The fifth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group to study issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (hereafter, the Working Group) convened from 7-11 May 2012, at UN Headquarters in New York. The Working Group focused on: marine genetic resources, including questions on the sharing of benefits, measures such as areabased management tools, including marine protected areas, and environmental impact assessments, capacity building, and the transfer of marine technology; the organization of intersessional workshops aimed at improving understanding of the issues and clarifying key questions as an input to the work of the Working Group; and the identification of gaps and ways forward, with a view to ensuring an effective legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Following substantive debates on the gaps and ways forward in plenary and intense negotiations, mostly in a government-only informal setting, on whether to recommend the launch of formal negotiations on a new implementing agreement to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Working Group recommended that the General Assembly task it to continue to consider all issues under its mandate as a package with a view to making progress on ways forward to fulfill its mandate. The Working Group also adopted terms of reference for two intersessional workshops that are expected to improve understanding of issues before the Working Group and thus lead to a more informed and productive debate at its next meeting in the second half of 2013. The Working Group’s recommendations will be submitted to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session in September 2012. [IISD RS coverage] [Report of Working Group and Co-Chairs’ Summary of Discussions]