Charting the Future for the Law of the Sea

Rothwell, Donald R.; Elferink, Alex G. Oude; Scott, Karen N.; Stephens, Tim

doi:10.1093/law/9780198715481.003.0039

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Offshore ocean spaces beyond these boundaries are located outside of single state control. They are subjected to the Freedom of the High Seas Principle (FHSP), through which all are relatively free to use ocean space for peaceful purposes such as navigation and fishing (Broggiato et al, 2018; Rothwell and Stephens, 2010; Steinberg, 2001; Tiller et al, 2020). While states collectively have an obligation under UNCLOS to preserve and protect the marine environment, governance regimes implementing that obligation are often weak in comparison to the dominant FHSP (Freestone et al, 2014; Gjerde et al, 2016).…”

Section: Governance Territory and Enclosure Of Ocean Space And Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1(1)) for managing mineral resources. Under UNCLOS, these resources are considered the common heritage of humankind and must be managed for the benefit of all (Peters, 2020; Rothwell and Stephens, 2010; UNCLOS). This Common Heritage of Humankind Principle (CHP) was incorporated into UNCLOS after developing nations expressed concerns that technologically advanced countries would exploit and deplete seabed minerals for their own benefit, causing price drops and disadvantaging the countries that relied on the export of terrestrial minerals for their economies (Rothwell and Stephens, 2010; Tiller et al, 2020).…”

Section: Governance Territory and Enclosure Of Ocean Space And Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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(Un)claiming rights, resources, and ocean spaces: Marine genetic resources and area-based management tools in high seas governance negotiations

Melvin

Acton

Campbell

2022

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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After years of informal efforts, the parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are negotiating an international legally binding instrument to address governance gaps that have impeded attempts to conserve biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). Though these discussions were initiated in response to concerns about biodiversity, states have used them to advance competing claims regarding rights of access, ownership, and control of ocean spaces and resources. This paper examines how states have discussed ocean space in negotiations regarding area-based management tools (ABMTs) and marine genetic resources (MGRs) at the first three intergovernmental conferences regarding biodiversity in ABNJ. ABMTs, which have become widespread in governing ocean space for conservation, are premised on an ontological framing that ocean space can be divided by geographical boundaries into territories for management. MGRs, on the other hand, are newly recognized governance objects that cross existing spatial boundaries: between areas of national and international jurisdiction, between the seafloor and water column, and between the ocean and the laboratory. Through their mobility, MGRs reveal how territorial forms of governance over material resources intersect with other forms of exclusion, control, and rights-based institutions, suggesting the need to develop creative management regimes that go beyond territorial approaches.

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Section: Governance Territory and Enclosure Of Ocean Space And Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Governance Territory and Enclosure Of Ocean Space And Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

(Un)claiming rights, resources, and ocean spaces: Marine genetic resources and area-based management tools in high seas governance negotiations

Melvin

Acton

Campbell

2022

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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“…155 While pursuing this question is beyond the scope of this article, attention can be drawn to the observation by Rothwell et al that the ILBI's future normative effect on the LOSC and, more broadly, on the law of the sea will depend considerably on how many states will become a party to it. 156…”

Section: Normative and Institutional Integration Of The Ilbi Within Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting Bioprospecting in the Southern Ocean in the Context of the BBNJ Negotiations

Nickels

2020

Ocean Development & International Law

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This article revisits marine bioprospecting in the Southern Ocean in the context of the efforts to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. After briefly introducing the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), this article examines the extent to which the ILBI will likely spatially overlap with the ATS. As the next step, it is highlighted that future provisions on marine genetic resources (MGRs) in the ILBI might substantively differ from the way the ATS currently regulates bioprospecting. Based on that, the final section reflects on how the ILBI will normatively and institutionally relate to the ATS.

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“…The international community has adopted so far several international legal instruments of a sectoral or regional character that can contribute to mitigate and possibly halt environmental degradation and biodiversity loss in the deep ocean. However, the legal framework for the sustainable use, protection, and conservation of marine biodiversity in ABNJ still remains highly fragmented and inadequate, representing one of the most debated issues of today's international law of the sea (Rothwell et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overlapping and fragmentation in the protection and conservation of the marine environment in areas beyond national jurisdiction

2023

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Marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) are under the growing threat of cumulative anthropogenic impacts including fishing, shipping, energy extraction, certain forms of marine scientific research, and the imminent deep seabed mining that prefigure a critical scenario in terms of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. This article offers a contribution to the discussion on the best approaches to effectively implement environmental protection and conservation in ABNJ, also in the light of ongoing intergovernmental negotiations on the conclusion of an agreement implementing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in ABNJ. The paper first analyzes the current legal gaps in the protection and conservation of ABNJ and the tools developed by some regional and universal regimes to preserve vulnerable marine ecosystems. It then presents two case studies, relating to hydrothermal vent fields of the Mid Atlantic Ridge (Lost City) and the South-West Indian Ridge (Longqi field) to discuss the fragmentation of the legal regimes applicable to ABNJ as well as the difficult cooperation among the regional, global and sectoral frameworks involved in their governance. The case studies show that a coordination mechanism, based on mutual recognition of the protection and conservation measures taken by each competent organization in a specific field, is of utmost urgency. Only a more structured system of cooperation among States and international organizations, that the new implementation agreement will hopefully develop, will allow for the identification of the most appropriate tools for the protection of a given marine area from the cumulative impacts of human activities.

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Charting the Future for the Law of the Sea

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

(Un)claiming rights, resources, and ocean spaces: Marine genetic resources and area-based management tools in high seas governance negotiations

(Un)claiming rights, resources, and ocean spaces: Marine genetic resources and area-based management tools in high seas governance negotiations

Revisiting Bioprospecting in the Southern Ocean in the Context of the BBNJ Negotiations

Overlapping and fragmentation in the protection and conservation of the marine environment in areas beyond national jurisdiction

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