UN Releases Continental Shelf Recommendations

2 October 2008

The United Nations (UN) has released its official recommendations on New Zealand’s submission to extend the boundaries of our continental shelf. This follows the Prime Minister’s announcement on the success of the submission.

The recommendations from the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf includes recognition of:

• the quality of the submission
• the quality of the science behind the submission
• the soundness of New Zealand’s interpretation of article 76 of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea on which the submission was based.

The recommendations are in favour of 98 percent of New Zealand’s submission, the success of which has confirmed New Zealand’s rights over 1.7 million square kilometres of seabed. The submission’s success is the result of over ten years’ work. LINZ was responsible for collecting and analysing the seabed data needed to determine the outermost limits of the continental shelf, a $44m project that took seven years to complete.

The UN’s recommendations can be downloaded in full from the UN Recommendations on the Continental Shelf page.

For more information on New Zealand's continental shelf submission, you can visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.

You can also view a computer-simulated flyover that demonstrates the extent of the New Zealand continental shelf.