Headline: IASS presents key messages on ocean governance to UN

In a side event during this week's international discussions at the UN in New York on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the High Seas, Sebastian Unger, Scientific Coordinator of the GCS Cluster at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), presented the outcome and key messages of the workshop “Oceans in the Anthropocene – Advancing Governance of the High Seas”.

This workshop which was jointly organized by the IASS and its French partner IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations) brought together the Federal Minister of the Environment Peter Altmaier and more than 40 leading international high seas experts from science, politics, NGOs and civil society from March 20-21, 2013.

The key messages of the workshop are presented in the IASS policy brief "Advancing Governance of the High Seas" (1/2013) that emphasizes the urgent need for global action and is launched today. The Policy Brief can be downloaded here.

At the UN meeting, countries explored a better governance of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, often referred to as the “High Seas”. It follows up from a commitment made by heads of State and Government at the Earth Summit “Rio +20” in Rio de Janeiro to address on an urgent basis, the issue of the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, including by taking a decision on the development of an international instrument under UNCLOS(United Nationals Convention on the Law of the Sea) by the end of 2014. Further discussion at the UN level will take place in August in the informal UN Working Group on Biodiversity in ABNJ (Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction).

See here more information on the IASS/IDDRI Workshop.