Wayne Dean Doyle

UN Headquarters, Conference room B

August 20^th, 2013 10:00a.m- 1:00p.m

This AD Hoc group, although robustly represented at the United Nations today, quickly became thwarted very early in proceedings. Agenda item four, which is comprised of  conservation and sustainable use of capacity building and the transfer of marine technology, impact assessment and genetic resources, seemed to cause most concern.

Fiji speaking on behalf of the working group 77 stated it could not make a statement as a general consensus hadn’t been reached.   Shortly after  Fiji  made the following statement  for the group of 77.   “In relation to agenda item four, we feel there needs to be some international framework or instrument needed to implement the Law of the Sea effectively on a global scale,” stated Fiji.

The representative of Iceland stressed the importance of preparation in order to fully take advantage of the deliberations timeframe stating, “The workshop in relation to this subject seemed to be more beneficial and educational”.

The importance of the work being carried out by scientists, working groups and governments was evidentially appreciated but an air of frustration from the panel became evident, and this remained throughout the session.

Agenda Item 5 seemed to gain more interest with various speakers taking the floor on behalf of their respective countries. Trinidad and Tobago and New Zealand shared similar concerns and views. The need for a binding agreement with ample information and shared ideas is the way forward. “The time is ripe to make these decisions, we can add more as time goes on, but we must make the tough decisions now”, stated the Trinidad and Tobago delegation.

Representatives from Argentina and Norway expressed the desire for a more interactive dialogue with fewer formalities as, in many cases; these formalities impede the progress of such working groups.

The need to become familiar with the legal and technical aspects of these issues will remain instrumental for any future progress. The general consensus requested clarity, better use of time in terms of how delegations are being requested to contribute and also a more cohesive and interactive use of shared information to enable the working group to make the best, most informed and effective decisions.