Commonwealth helps countries access additional areas of seabed

Legal and technical advice and assistance was provided through all stages of their respective submissions to the United Nations Commission on the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf. This process is as set out under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a multilateral treaty that establishes a framework of rules and principles to govern all ocean space.

The combined figure for the additional seabed that has been secured by all of these submissions is over 2 million square kilometres – the same size as Mexico.

The establishment of agreed maritime boundaries is also important for the conduct of maritime law enforcement activity to combat piracy and illicit drug smuggling.

The preparation of a submission is a significant undertaking that involves a consideration of complex legal and scientific issues. As well as legal advisers, the Secretariat also provided scientific and technical experts to provide advice to the government teams as required.

The 15 countries who have received assistance are: the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka and Tonga.

Law of the sea

• “The support of the Commonwealth Secretariat has been invaluable in making a success of the Joint Submission and the Presentation,” said the Prime Minister of Mauritius. “The choice of the two experts sponsored by the Commonwealth was well inspired to give us professional and balanced advice in preparing our submission.”
• “Without the major and active contribution of the Commonwealth, our timely submissions to the United Nations would not have materialised,” said the Seychelles Minister of Foreign Affairs. “We would like to record our appreciation for the success of both submissions, and convey our profound gratitude, to the experts funded by the Commonwealth.”
• The Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands said: “I wish to record our profound appreciation to the Commonwealth Secretariat for all the assistance provided to us, without which we would not have succeeded in making this historic submission and become the first Pacific Island nation to lodge a submission with the United Nations. The lodging of the submission will give the people of the Cook Islands future rights to resources in over 400,000 sq km of seabed.”