Status of submissions made by States to the CLCS and ... · Status of submissions made by States to the CLCS and impacts of the submissions on the extent of the Area by G. Carrera

Status of submissions made by States to the CLCS and impacts

of the submissions on the extent of the Area by G. Carrera

International Workshop on article 82

Beijing, PRC, 25 November 2012

1

Galo Carrera

Vice-Chair

Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

Status of submissions made by States to the CLCS and

impacts of the submissions on the extent of the Area





2

Overview

• Third Conference: Evensen Proposal and 1978 Study

• The Convention: article 76 and Annex II

• Submissions made by States

• Impact of submissions on the Area

• Preliminary information notes and future submissions

• Conclusions: What do we know now?





3 Footnote attached to paragraph 5 of

Alternative A of the Evensen Proposal made in 1975

It is assumed that the Continental Shelf Boundary Commission is an

independent organ, and that its composition would ensure that it

dispose of the necessary technical and scientific expertise. The

scope of powers of the Commission, and the questions of possible

appeal procedures, of the participation of legal expertise of the

Commission, and of the relationship with the proposed dispute

settlement procedures under the new Convention, remain to be

discussed.

Reproduced in XI Platzöder 501.





4

What did we know in 1978?

A/CONF.62/C.2/L.98 and Add.1, 18 April 1978





5

The Convention

Part VI: Article 76

Annex II





6

1. Russian Federation ( 20 December 2001 )

2. Brazil ( 17 May 2004 )

3. Australia ( 15 November 2004 )

4. Ireland - Porcupine Abyssal Plain ( 25 May 2005 )

5. New Zealand ( 19 April 2006 )

6. Joint submission by France, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - in the area

of the Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay ( 19 May 2006 )

7. Norway - in the North East Atlantic and the Arctic ( 27 November 2006 )

8. France - in respect of the areas of French Guiana and New Caledonia ( 22 May 2007 )

9. Mexico - in respect of the western polygon in the Gulf of Mexico ( 13 December 2007 )

10. Barbados ( 8 May 2008 )

10a Barbados - revised ( 25 July 2011 )

11. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Ascension Island ( 9 May 2008 )

12. Indonesia - North West of Sumatra Island ( 16 June 2008 )

13. Japan ( 12 November 2008 )

14. Joint submission by the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles - in the region of the Mascarene Plateau

(1 December 2008 )

15. Suriname ( 5 December 2008 )

16. Myanmar ( 16 December 2008 )

17. France - areas of the French Antilles and the Kerguelen Islands ( 5 February 2009 )

18. Yemen - in respect of south east of Socotra Island ( 20 March 2009 )

19. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - in respect of Hatton Rockall Area (31 March 2009 )

20. Ireland - in respect of Hatton-Rockall Area ( 31 March 2009 )

21. Uruguay (7 April 2009 )

Sixty one Submissions made to the CLCS





7

22. Philippines - in the Benham Rise region ( 8 April 2009 )

23. The Cook Islands - concerning the Manihiki Plateau ( 16 April 2009 )

24. Fiji ( 20 April 2009 )

25. Argentina ( 21 April 2009 )

26. Ghana ( 28 April 2009 )

27. Iceland - in the Ægir Basin area and in the western and southern parts of Reykjanes Ridge (29 April 2009)

28. Denmark - in the area north of the Faroe Islands ( 29 April 2009 )

29. Pakistan ( 30 April 2009 )

30. Norway - in respect of Bouvetøya and Dronning Maud Land ( 4 May 2009 )

31. South Africa - in respect of the mainland of the territory of the Republic of South Africa ( 5 May 2009 )

32. Joint submission by the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands - concerning the

Ontong Java Plateau ( 5 May 2009 )

33. Joint submission by Malaysia and Viet Nam - in the southern part of the South China Sea ( 6 May 2009 )

34. Joint submission by France and South Africa - in the area of the Crozet Archipelago and the Prince Edward Islands ( 6

May 2009 )

35. Kenya ( 6 May 2009 )

36. Mauritius - in the region of Rodrigues Island ( 6 May 2009 )

37. Viet Nam - in North Area (VNM-N) ( 7 May 2009 )

38. Nigeria ( 7 May 2009 )

39. Seychelles - concerning the Northern Plateau Region ( 7 May 2009 )

40. France - in respect of La Réunion Island and Saint-Paul and Amsterdam Islands ( 8 May 2009 )

41. Palau ( 8 May 2009 )

42. Côte d'Ivoire ( 8 May 2009 )

43. Sri Lanka ( 8 May 2009 )

44. Portugal ( 11 May 2009 )






8

45. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - in respect of the Falkland Islands, and of South Georgia and

the South Sandwich Islands ( 11 May 2009 )

46. Tonga ( 11 May 2009 )

47. Spain - in respect of the area of Galicia ( 11 May 2009 )

48. India ( 11 May 2009 )

49. Trinidad and Tobago ( 12 May 2009 )

50. Namibia ( 12 May 2009 )

51. Cuba ( 1 June 2009 )

52. Mozambique ( 7 July 2010 )

53. Maldives ( 26 July 2010 )

54. Denmark - Faroe-Rockall Plateau Region ( 2 December 2010 )

55. Bangladesh ( 25 February 2011 )

56. Madagascar ( 29 April 2011 )

57. Guyana ( 6 September 2011 )

58. Mexico - in respect of the eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico ( 19 December 2011 )

59. United Republic of Tanzania ( 18 January 2012 )

60. Gabon ( 10 April 2012 )

61. Denmark - in respect of the Southern Continental Shelf of Greenland ( 14 June 2012)






9

61 submissions plus 1 revised submission to date





10






11






12

Submission number

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Are

a K

ilom

ete

rs S

qu

are

d

0.0

5.0e+5

1.0e+6

1.5e+6

2.0e+6

2.5e+6

3.0e+6

3.5e+6

Are

a K

ilom

ete

rs S

qu

are

d

0.0

5.0e+5

1.0e+6

1.5e+6

2.0e+6

2.5e+6

3.0e+6

3.5e+6

Approximate area contained in each submission

Australia

New Zealand Argentina

South

Africa

France

South Africa

Sri Lanka

Portugal

United Kingdom

Namibia

RF





13 Difficulties quantifying areas

Australia 3 233 600 km2

Portugal 2 115 100 km2

Argentina 1 779 100 km2

New Zealand 1 660 900 km2

Russian Federation 1 374 700 km2

And overlapping and joint submissions, for example:

France 81 700 FISU + 299 700 + 467 700 +

1 108 600 F-SA + 411 000 =

2 368 700 km2 ?

South Africa 1 137 100 + 1 108 600 F-SA =

2 245 700 km2 ?





14

1. Bénin et Togo (2 April 2009)

2. Somalia (14 April 2009)

3. Oman in respect of the Owen basin, Owen Ridge, and the Arabian Indian Sea (15 April 2009)

4. Fiji in respect of the South East Region of the North Fiji Basin, Lau-Colville, Tonga-Kermadec Complex (21 April

2009)

5. Fiji and Solomon Islands on the Charlotte Bank Region (21 April 2009)

6. Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu on the North Fiji Basin (21 April 2009)

7. Gambia (4 May 2009)

8. Solomon Islands (5 May 2009)

9. Micronesia (Federated States of) for the Eauripik Rise and Mussau Ridge Areas (5 May 2009)

10. Papua New Guinea for the Mussau Ridge and Eauripik Rise Areas Mussau Ridge region (5 May 2009)

11. Mauritius in the Chagos Archipelago Region (6 May 2009)

12. Mexico en el polígono oriental del Golfo de México (6 May 2009)

13. Cape Verde (7 May 2009)

14. United Republic of Tanzania (7 May 2009)

Six Preliminary Information Notes have already become Submissions

Forty Five Preliminary Information Notes





15

15. Chile (8 May 2009)

16. France - Polynésie française et Wallis et Futuna ( 8 May 2009 )

17. France - Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon ( 8 May 2009 )

18. Guinea-Bissau ( 8 May 2009 )

19. Seychelles in the Aldabra Island Region ( 8 May 2009 )

20. Togo ( 8 May 2009 )

21. Cameroon ( 11 May 2009 )

22. China ( 11 May 2009 )

23. Costa Rica ( 11 May 2009 )

24. Democratic Republic of the Congo ( 11 May 2009 )

25. Guinea ( 11 May 2009 )

26. Mauritania ( 11 May 2009 )

27. Mozambique ( 11 May 2009 )

28. New Zealand - Tokelau ( 11 May 2009 )

29. Republic of Korea ( 11 May 2009 )

30. Spain en el área al Oeste de las Islas Canarias ( 11 May 2009 )


Forty Five Preliminary Information Notes (cont.)





16

31. Angola ( 12 May 2009 )

32. Bahamas ( 12 May 2009 )

33. Bénin ( 12 May 2009 )

34. Brunei Darussalam ( 12 May 2009 )

35. Congo ( 12 May 2009 )

36. Cuba ( 12 May 2009 )

37. Gabon ( 12 May 2009 )

38. Guyana ( 12 May 2009 )

39. Senegal ( 12 May 2009 )

40. Sierra Leone ( 12 May 2009 )

41. Sao Tome and Principe ( 13 May 2009 )

42. Equatorial Guinea ( 14 May 2009 )

43. Comoros 2 June 2009 )

44. Vanuatu ( 10 August 2009 )

45. Nicaragua ( 7 April 2010 )


Forty Five Preliminary Information Notes (cont.)





17

Year

1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

To

tal

Nu

mb

er

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

61 + 1 revised Submissions and 18 Recommendations





18

Future Submissions

• 45 Preliminary information notes (6 have become Submissions)

• New or revised submissions from previous Submissions

• New Submissions for States whose deadline is beyond 2012

• New Submissions from States which have not yet become Parties

• The total number of Submissions is estimated to approach 120





19

Members of the CLCS: ECS v. non-ECS States

1997 – 2002: 16 and 5 2002 – 2007: 18 and 3

2007 – 2012: 19 and 2 2012 – 2017: 19 and 1





20

First Conclusion: What do we know now?

1. The work to be conducted by States was underestimated in terms

of its scientific and technical breadth and scope, cost and time:

• The amount of scientific and technical data contained in a

single national submission surpasses the size of the full

World data set used in 1978

• The cost of a submission can range from hundreds of

thousands of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Trust Funds have made an important contribution.

• The preparation of a submission can range from 3 to 10 or

more years (deadlines 2004, 2009, 20??).





21

Second Conclusion: What do we know now?

2. The work to be conducted by the CLCS was underestimated:

• A preliminary estimate of a total of 35 submissions in 1978

• 61 submissions + 1 revised submission +120

• 4 States have deposited coordinates with UN SG and 1

State has done so with the ISA SG.

• 10 years? The CLCS is not explicitly enabled by UNCLOS

to provide any information to the ISA

• The CLCS is the only UNCLOS organization not dedicated

full-time to fulfill its mandate

• Members of the CLCS from ECS States have consistently

become the majority in the CLCS





22

Third Conclusion: What do we know now?

3. Some of the most important issues which may cause large

differences in the surface area of submissions and their impact on

the Area are:

• The location of the base and foot of the continental slope

• The application of “bridging lines” in the construction of

the outer limit of the continental shelf

• The consideration of and differentiation among seafloor

highs: submarine elevations v. submarine ridges v. oceanic

ridges

Documents

Status of submissions made by States to the CLCS and ... · Status of submissions made by States to the CLCS and impacts of the submissions on the extent of the Area by G. Carrera