[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 121 (Monday, June 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 41461]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13506]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice: 12110]


Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Department of State will hold an information session 
regarding the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law 
of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological 
diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

DATES: The public meeting will be held via WebEx on June 27, 2023, 2-
3:30 p.m. EDT.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of State will hold a public 
meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, to discuss the iAgreement 
under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 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 June 23, 2023, 
will be considered but might not be possible to fulfill.
    Negotiations on the BBNJ Agreement concluded at the resumed fifth 
session of the BBNJ intergovernmental conference (IGC) from February 
20-March 4, 2023 The Agreement was adopted by the IGC on June 19, 2023, 
at the United Nations. It is anticipated that the Agreement will be 
opened for signature on September 20, 2023. Additional information on 
the BBNJ Agreement 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 Agreement. We will provide a 
brief overview of the Agreement and next steps post-adoption and listen 
to the viewpoints of U.S. stakeholders. The information obtained from 
this session will help the U.S. delegation in its preparations for the 
next steps following the adoption of the agreement.
    Authority: 22 U.S.C. 2656.

Jennifer Becker,
Acting Director, Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, Department of 
State.
[FR Doc. 2023-13506 Filed 6-23-23; 8:45 am]
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