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Nominations for 2020-2021 edition of ISA Secretary-General's Award for Excellence in Deep-Sea Research close on 15 July

June highlights

 Governance

Nauru requests the President of ISA Council to complete the adoption of rules, regulations and procedures necessary to facilitate the approval of plans of work for exploitation in the Area

Through a letter dated 25 June 2021, the President of Nauru, H.E. Mr. Lionel Aingimea, has requested that the ISA Council complete the adoption of the rules, regulations and procedures necessary to facilitate the approval of plans of work for exploitation in the Area pursuant to Section 1, paragraph 15 of the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of UNCLOS. In his letter the President of Nauru informed the President of the Council of ISA for the 26^th session, H.E. Rear Admiral Md. Khurshed Alam, of the intention of Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), a Nauruan entity sponsored by Nauru, to apply for approval of a plan of work for exploitation in the Area in two years.

ISA Secretary-General addresses 31st Meeting of States Parties to UNCLOS

On 21 June 2021, ISA Secretary-General Mr. Michael W. Lodge reported on the status of the work of ISA to the 31^st Meeting of the States Parties to UNCLOS. In his address to the States parties, Mr. Lodge emphasized that ISA has managed to carry on with essential activities despite constraints related to the on-going pandemic of COVID-19 and the lack of in-person meetings since February 2020. The Secretary-General praised ISA Members for having been able to adopt important decisions amid such difficulties, including a budget for the financial period 2021-2022, the election by consensus of one-half of the membership of the Council, the Action Plan in support of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the implementation of a programmatic approach for capacity-development, and the exceptional extension of the terms of office of the members of the LTC by one year, to December 2022.

Don't miss the second session of the Deep-DiplomaSea webinar series for diplomats and UN senior representatives on 8 July 2021

 Marine scientific research in the Area 

On World Hydrography Day, ISA reiterates commitment to advance global mapping of the seabed by 2030

As the world strives to map the entire seabed area of the planet, ISA has been working with its 22 exploration contractors and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) to develop the necessary protocols to provide high-resolution bathymetric data collected by contractors as a contribution towards the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 project, which aims to produce a definitive map of the world’s seabed by 2030. Over the past several decades, ISA contractors have explored patches of the Area and collected vast amounts of bathymetric data. As of today, and as part of a pilot initiative facilitated by ISA, three of them have supplied data to the Seabed 2030 project.

ISA and Ifremer sponsor participants from developing States to attend the 16th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium to be hosted by Ifremer on 12-17 September

 Deep-sea Literacy

On World Oceans Day 2021, ISA vows to increase global knowledge of deep-sea biodiversity for the benefit of humankind

Among other activities, ISA is committed to find ways to increase the dissemination, exchange and sharing of scientific data and deep-sea research outputs. On World Oceans Day, ISA hosted a 5-hour-long virtual event to highlight its work and increase general knowledge of the deep sea. In particular, it organized a webinar with the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) of IOC-UNESCO to discuss data sharing. ISA has officially joined the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) network to serve as a data node for OBIS of IOC-UNESCO. As of June 2021, the ISA OBIS node contains 63 datasets from 2004 to 2019 with data on 52,057 species observations (presence records), 1,175 taxa (organisms) and 136 species.

Revealing the winners of ISA art competition for World Oceans Day

ISA is pleased to announce the winners of its art competition organized for World Oceans Day 2021. In the international competition, open to everyone over the age of sixteen, the winners are Jessica Eggers, 27, from South Africa (first prize), Folco Soffietti, 29, from Italy (second prize) and Ekaterina Kamchenkova, 27, from the Russian FederationIn (third prize). In the local competition, open to school children under the age of 16 in Jamaica, the winner is Olivia Myrie, 11.

 Women empowerment and leadership

Call for consultant(s) to undertake a gender-mapping and identification of critical barriers to the participation of women from LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in deep-sea related research disciplines and activities

ISA is seeking one or two consultant(s) with a background in social sciences, gender, sustainable development, science policy or related fields and requisite experience in gender data collection and analysis and/or with a good knowledge and understanding of the marine science research sector/deep-sea research or related fields. The selected consultant(s) will undertake a gender-mapping and identification of critical barriers to the participation of women from Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in deep-sea related research disciplines and activities and access to leadership positions. Apply by 15 July.

 Capacity development & training

Third workshop for the promotion of the sustainable development of Africa’s deep-seabed resources in support of Africa’s blue economy strategy concludes successfully

The third workshop organized in the framework of the Africa Deep Seabed Resources (ADSR) project successfully concluded on 3 June with increased understanding among participants of regulatory processes related to deep-seabed mineral resources exploration and exploitation – including environmental management practices and tools - and of potential benefits for African States of engaging in activities in the Area.

Applications open until 31 July for four online engineering training opportunities with China Minmetals Corporation

Nominations open for nine online training opportunities with the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India

ISA Legal and Technical Commission announces the selection of candidates to benefit from TOML at-sea training opportunities

ISA Legal and Technical Commission finalized on 8 June 2021 the selection of candidates for two at-sea training opportunities offered by Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML) in accordance with its obligations under its exploration contract for polymetallic nodules with ISA. The two selected candidates are Ms. Paola Andrea Quintero from Colombia and Mr. Mostafa Monwar from Bangladesh.

Meet ISA trainee Mohamed, who has been selected to attend a training course on dredging supported by GSR