Coastal areas around the world are severely stressed due to a myriad of human activities and marine pollution. They are now detrimentally being affected by climate change and sea level rise as well. One major theater most acutely impacted by these phenomena is coastal South Asia, an overcrowded region with low adaptive capacities. Drawing on the experiences of coastal countries and regions beyond South Asia, Towards Sustainable Coastal Development: Institutionalizing Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Coastal Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia recommends operationalizing integrated coastal zone management and linking the same with coastal climate change adaptation under appropriately crafted coastal laws to facilitate a move towards sustainable coastal development.

On 16 November 1994, the 1992 U.N. Law of the Sea Convention took effect. Progress is now evident in the implementation of Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, as reviewed by the 1997 UNGA Special Session. These developments and the establishment of the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) make the continuation of the NILOS Documentary Yearbook, now in its 11th year, of particular significance in the years to come. The Yearbook compiles the documents related to ocean affairs and the law of the sea issued each year by organizations, organs, and bodies of the United Nations system. These include documents of the U.N. General Assembly, ECOSOC and its regional Commissions, the U.N. Secretary-General's Informal Consultations, PrepCom ISA/ITLOS, UNCED, UNEP and UNCTAD; followed by the documents of specialized agencies and other autonomous organizations of the U.N. system, including FAO, IAEA, ILO, IMO, UNESCO/IOC and WMO. The Yearbook reproduces in full documents issued in the course of the most recent year and lists other relevant documents. The NILOS Documentary Yearbook has proved of invaluable assistance in facilitating access by the community of scholars and practitioners in ocean affairs and the law of the sea to essential documentation.

As a part of Grenada’s Blue Week 2016 and Investment Conference, the Global Ocean Forum, FAO, and the project partners of the Common Oceans ABNJ Capacity Project organized a workshop on Capacity Development to Improve the Management of Marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ): Needs, Experiences, Options, and Opportunities, held from May 18–21, 2016 in St. George’s, Grenada. The workshop aimed at 1. discussing and exchanging information and perspectives towards a broader understanding of the needs and opportunities in the development of capacity regarding ABNJ; 2. contributing information on capacity development to the global deliberations towards a legallybinding international instrument on BBNJ under UNCLOS; and 3. formulating the next steps towards advancing capacity development regarding ABNJ, building on past and ongoing initiatives and experiences (especially the outputs of the Common Oceans Program), and responding to global prescriptions on capacity development in rel ation to marine resources and their management.