Marine Biodiversity Negotiations During COVID-19: A New Role for Digital Diplomacy?

Abstract

Measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic have indefinitely postponed in-person formal international negotiations for a new legally binding instrument 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). As a result, online initiatives have emerged to keep informal dialogue ongoing among both state and nonstate actors. To continue our research on the BBNJ process, we adapted our methodology and conducted a survey in May 2020 exploring the impact of COVID-19 on respondents’ BBNJ-related work and communication. This research note identifies online initiatives and communication channels set up to maintain negotiation momentum and examines the challenges and opportunities of digital diplomacy for multilateral environmental agreement making, as well as the study thereof. We discuss future avenues for global environmental politics research and conclude that digital ethnographies provide an entry point to study some of these dynamics but need to be adapted to the study of negotiation settings and the specific context of multilateral environmental diplomacy.

Who owns marine biodiversity? Contesting the world order through the ‘common heritage of humankind’ principle

“…Ongoing online dialogue amongst state and non-state actors throughout the pandemic is a strong signal, showing their willingness to successfully conclude the negotiations (Vadrot et al 2021).…”

Virtual Venues and International Negotiations: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…These mostly speculative pieces have been followed by four empirical studies of virtual venues in negotiation. The first, written by Vadrot et al (2021), consists of a survey examining the impact of COVID-19 on UN marine biodiversity negotiations. Echoing the predictions of Maurer and Wright, they find that virtual venues succeed when they are built on existing 'normal negotiation practice' and collective 'background knowledge' .…”

Dyplomacja cyfrowa w czasie pandemii COVID-19. Zmiana kierunków komunikacji i dyplomacja quasi-medialna

“…Z kolei grupa badaczy z Uniwersytetu Wiedeńskiego w ramach projektu Maripoldata przeprowadziła w maju 2020 roku badanie ankietowe wśród interesariuszy (n=105) negocjacji dotyczących bioróżnorodności mórz (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) w kontekście Konwencji Narodów Zjednoczonych o prawie morza (Vadrot et al, 2021). Z perspektywy tego artykułu kluczowe są wyniki dotyczące wykorzystania poszczególnych narzędzi komunikacji w czasie pandemii do kontaktu i powadzenia negocjacji.…”