Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes

NEW YORK, 7 August - The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its sixty-seventh session from 6 July to 7 August 2026 at United Nations Headquarters. The plenary parts of the session were held from 6 to 8 July, on 10 July and from 27 to 31 July. The remainder of the session was devoted to the technical examination of submissions at the premises of the Division, including geographic information systems laboratories and other facilities.

During the first plenary part of the session, the Director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea addressed the Commission. He highlighted key developments at the thirty-sixth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention, informed of the continuing impacts of budget reductions and the liquidity crisis affecting the Secretariat and provided updates on the planned renovations to the DC-2 building, noting that the Division was closely monitoring developments and would continue to keep the Commission informed. He reiterated the commitment of the Division to deliver high-quality support to the Commission within available means.

The submissions of the following coastal States were considered by the Commission and its subcommissions: Yemen in respect of south-east of Socotra Island; Fiji in respect of Lau-Colville and Tonga-Kermadec Complex - South-East Region; Mauritius in respect of Rodrigues Island; Palau in respect of the North Area; Portugal; Spain in respect of Galicia; Namibia; Mozambique; Mexico in respect of the eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico; and the United Republic of Tanzania; as well as revised submissions made by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian oriental and meridional margins; and the Russian Federation in respect of Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean.

The Commission approved two sets of recommendations regarding the submission made by Mexico in respect of the eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico and the submission made by Mauritius in respect of Rodrigues Island, respectively.

The Commission heard presentations on the submissions made by the Philippines in respect of the West Palawan Region and by Chile in respect of the Juan Fernández Archipelago region.

Underscoring the importance that submitting States attach to the work of the Commission, delegations were represented at the high level: The delegation of the Russian Federation was headed by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Alexander Kozlov, and the delegation of Namibia included the remote participation of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform, Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi.

In view of the progress in its work, the Commission decided to establish subcommissions for the consideration of the submission made by Fiji in respect of Lau-Colville and the Tonga-Kermadec Complex - South-East Region, and the joint submission made by Tuvalu, France and New Zealand (Tokelau) in respect of the Robbie Ridge.

Further details on the sixty-seventh session are available in the Statement of the Chairperson of the Commission (document CLCS/67/2).

The background press release on this session is available at press.un.org/en/2026/sea2252.doc.htm.

Background

Established pursuant to article 2 of annex II to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Commission makes recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, based on information submitted by those coastal States. The recommendations are based on the scientific data and other material provided by coastal States in relation to the implementation of article 76 of the Convention and do not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts or prejudice the position of States that are parties to a land or maritime dispute, or application of other parts of the Convention or any other treaties. The limits of the continental shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of the recommendations are final and binding. In the case of disagreement by a coastal State with the recommendations of the Commission, the coastal State shall, within a reasonable time, make a revised or new submission to the Commission.

Under rule 23 of its rules of procedure (Public and private meetings), the meetings of the Commission, its subcommissions and subsidiary bodies are held in private, unless the Commission decides otherwise.

As required under the rules of procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all the submissions, including all charts and coordinates, have been made public by the Secretary-General through continental shelf notifications circulated to Member States of the United Nations, as well as States parties to the Convention. The executive summaries are available on the Division's website at https://www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm. The summaries of recommendations adopted by the Commission are also available on the above-referenced website.

The Commission is a body of 21 experts in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography serving in their personal capacities. Members of the Commission are elected for a term of five years by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention having due regard to the need to ensure equitable geographical representation. Not fewer than three members shall be elected from each geographical region.

Currently, one seat on the Commission is vacant resulting from a lack of nominations from the Group of Eastern European States.

The Convention provides that the State party which submitted the nomination of a member of the Commission shall defray the expenses of that member while in performance of Commission duties. A voluntary trust fund for the purpose of defraying the cost of participation of the members of the Commission from developing countries has been established. It has facilitated the participation of several members of the Commission from developing countries in the sessions of the Commission.

The convening by the Secretary-General of the sessions of the Commission, with full conference services, including documentation, for the plenary parts of these sessions, is subject to approval by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Assembly does so in its annual resolutions on oceans and the law of the sea, which also address other matters relevant to the work of the Commission and the conditions of service of its members.

For additional information on the work of the Commission see the website of the Division at https://www.un.org/depts/los/index.htm. In particular, the most recent Statements by the Chair on the progress in the work of the Commission are available at https://www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/commission_documents.htm.