[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 246 (Friday, December 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79033-79034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27938]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice: 11950]


Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Department of State will hold an information session 
regarding upcoming United Nations negotiations concerning marine 
biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

DATES: The public meeting will be held via WebEx on January 24, 2023, 
10:00-11:00 a.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you would like to participate in 
this meeting, please send your (1) name, (2) organization/affiliation, 
and (3) email address and phone number, to Meaghan Cuddy at 
[email protected] or at (202) 340-3272.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of State will hold a public 
meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, to prepare for the 
resumed fifth session of an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the 
conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of 
areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). This public meeting will be 
held by way of WebEx, with a capacity of up to 1000 members of the 
public to participate. To RSVP, participants should contact the meeting 
coordinator, Meaghan Cuddy, by email at [email protected] for log on 
and dial-in information, and to request reasonable accommodation. 
Requests for reasonable accommodation received after January 17, 2023, 
will be considered but might not be possible to fulfill.
    The United Nations will convene the resumed fifth session of the 
BBNJ IGC from February 20-March 3, 2023, in New York City. The UN 
General Assembly established the IGC to consider the recommendations of 
a two-year Preparatory Committee and to elaborate the text of an 
international legally binding instrument under the United Nations 
Convention on the Law of Sea on BBNJ. This resumed session is a 
continuation of the session held from August 15-26, 2022. It is

[[Page 79034]]

anticipated that the BBNJ Agreement may be adopted at the conclusion of 
negotiations in this session. Additional information on the BBNJ 
process is available at www.un.org/bbnj.
    We are inviting interested U.S. stakeholders to this virtual public 
meeting to share views about the BBNJ IGC, in particular to provide 
information to assist the U.S. Government in developing its positions. 
We will provide a brief overview of the upcoming negotiations and 
listen to the viewpoints of U.S. stakeholders. The information obtained 
from this session will help the U.S. delegation prepare for 
participation in the resumed fifth IGC session.
    Authority: 22 U.S.C. 2656.

Elizabeth Kim,
Director, Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2022-27938 Filed 12-22-22; 8:45 am]
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