Geoscience Reference
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instruments and the possible development of a multilateral agreement under the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
(b) This process would address the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, in particular, together and as a
whole, marine genetic resources, including questions on the sharing of benefits,
measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas,
and environmental impact assessments, capacity-building and transfer of marine
technology.
(c) This process would take place: (i) in the existing Working Group; and (ii) in
the format of intersessional workshops aimed at improving understanding of the
issues and clarifying key questions as an input to the work of the Working Group.
Atits 2012meeting, the WorkingGrouprequested the United Nations Secretary-General to
convene in 2013 two intersessional workshops on the topics of 'marine genetic resources'
and 'conservation and management tools, including area-based management and environ-
mental impact assessment'. The workshops were intended to improve understanding of the
issues and clarify key questions in order to enable the United Nations General Assembly to
make progress on ways to fulfil its mandate (United Nations,
2012
, para. 1 and appendix).
By Resolution 67/78, adopted on 11 December 2012, the UN General Assembly decided
(para. 182) to convene the two workshops in May 2013 and recalled (para. 181):
that in 'The Future We Want' States committed to address, on an urgent basis,
building on the work of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group and
before the end of the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, 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 the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea.
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