The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), Mr. Michael W. Lodge today formally launched the Annual Report of the Secretary-General 2020. This report, which is a requirement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is presented in a new format aimed at providing ISA Members and the wider ISA community with a comprehensive overview of the scope and extent of the progress achieved in implementing the mandate of ISA over the past year.

For the first time, the report is comprised of two documents - an official document of the Assembly that reports on the status of UNCLOS and related legal instruments; the status of contributions to the budget of the ISA and the status of the Area - along with a new report entitled ‘Achieving the sustainable use of deep-sea minerals for the benefit of humankind.’

The report is organized around the nine strategic directions set out in the ISA Strategic Plan for the period 2019-2023 adopted by the Assembly in 2018, highlighting the important progress made to advance the mandate of ISA in regards to promoting deep-sea marine scientific research; protecting the marine environment from potential impacts of deep seabed mining and building the capacity of developing States Members to benefit from the mineral wealth of the seabed. The report also places an emphasis on the strategic partnerships through which ISA operates.

“In a year that has presented unexpected challenges for all of us, I wish to express my appreciation to all the Members of ISA for their continued support in our work,” said Mr. Lodge.

“I am confident that the new and improved format will provide a great opportunity to shine a light on all the remarkable achievements that were possible because of our collective work,” he added. “I also express my sincere thanks to the Secretariat staff, without whom none of the activities described in this report could have taken place.”

The report shows that notwithstanding the significant achievements made over the last year, there is still much more work to be done at the request of ISA Members in the areas of capacity development, taxonomy standardization, and the sharing of information and knowledge building.

The report also notes the crucial need to continue collective efforts to finalize a robust, regulatory framework for the development of the mineral resources of the Area, in line with the provisions of UNCLOS.

To download the official document and the new report visit: bit.ly/SG_AR2020

Click here to view the Secretary-General’s video message: bit.ly/SG_Video_AR2020