scholarly journals The Proposed losc Implementation Agreement on Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction and Its Impact on International Fisheries Law

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Governance Tools ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Fisheries Regulation ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Fisheries Law ◽  
International Fisheries

As the development of an implementation agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction gathers pace, it is important to consider how this might impact upon international fisheries law. Although the proposed agreement provides an opportunity to addresses governance gaps both generally and with respect to fisheries, we should not expect too much of it; not least because the inclusion per se of fisheries remains debated by States. Also, positive institutional developments are already occurring beyond this United Nations process. The proposed implementation agreement should not undermine existing laws, but it is unlikely to leave them untouched. The application of integrated governance principles, and the use of area-based management tools and environmental impact assessment will necessarily influence fisheries regulation in abnj. Accordingly, care should be taken to ensure that any innovative governance tools are adapted to existing institutional capacities and circumstances.

Implementing the Duty to Cooperate under the 1982 UNCLOS for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction under a New BBNJ Agreement

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-195
Author(s):  
Nilufer Oral
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Marine Technology ◽  
Broad Framework

Abstract This article examines the duty to cooperate under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in relation to the obligations of States to protect and preserve the marine environment and in relation to the protection of the marine environment in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It demonstrates that the new Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement plays an important role in creating the necessary mechanisms for cooperation, thereby fulfilling the multiple obligations that States have under UNCLOS to cooperate regarding the protection and preservation of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Additionally, the BBNJ Agreement provides an important opportunity for States to effectively operationalize the UNCLOS provisions for marine scientific research, as well as the development and transfer of marine technology and capacity building. This article further analyses the duty to cooperate in relation to area-based management tools and environmental impact assessments, which are also key components of a broad framework of global cooperation under the BBNJ Agreement.

Considering the concept of the ecological civilization for conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity under the umbrella of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction instrument

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-262
Author(s):  
Sabrina Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Ecological Civilization ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Marine Environmental

In exploring how the concept of ecological civilization can be applied to maintain adequate marine environmental governance for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, the article first highlights the existing issues concerning conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity. It then suggests that ecological civilization can contribute as a norm to formulate the principles and approaches as well as to set goals and targets under the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction instrument.

Negotiating an International Legal Instrument on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction: A Look Ahead

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Marta Abegón Novella
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Look Ahead ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Final Agreement ◽  
Core Issues

The negotiation of the future Agreement governing the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction is in its final stage. Essentially a treaty for the protection of general interests, the Agreement can generate several benefits for the governance of the oceans. However, in the first three sessions of the intergovernmental conference, deep discrepancies have emerged with respect to the core issues of the package agreed in 2011. This article identifies various formulas and strategies that have been considered in the negotiations and incorporated in the Revised draft text as possible regulatory options with the potential to bring positions closer and facilitate the agreement: avoiding explicit reference to the legal status of marine genetic resources; the incorporation of differential and contextual norms; the introduction of due diligence obligations; the incorporation of internal soft law; and the reduction of the scope of the treaty. These options may help to provide flexibility and differentiation in the regulation but, as essentially pragmatic measures, they tend to sacrifice the ambition of the final Agreement. On the other hand, if States assume their real role and responsibility in the process –that of interpreters of general interest and custodians of marine biodiversity –they would be in a better position to find novel and more ambitious solutions for bringing this crucial Agreement to fruition. This article advocates a return to basics and the placing of the marine environment at the centre of the regulations.

scholarly journals Regional Management of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction in the Western Indian Ocean: State of Play and Possible Ways Forward

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen Wright ◽  
Julien Rochette
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Western Indian Ocean ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Regional Management ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Regional Organisations

Abstract In recent years, the international community has become increasingly aware of the growing threats to marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (abnj), and international discussions on a new international legally binding are underway. In parallel, some States, through regional organisations, have progressively extended their activities into abnj, particularly through the development of area-based management tools (abmts). In this article, we consider how actors in the Western Indian Ocean (wio) might engage in abnj governance. In particular, we develop some possible scenarios for developing abmts in the wio, including through the development of fisheries closures, the establishment of marine protected areas (mpas), and the adoption of abmts under the auspices of relevant international organisations. We conclude that while the wio is currently not the most advanced region in terms of ongoing efforts to improve the governance of abnj, there are already some positive signals and promising options for the future.

Part III Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Global Ocean Governance, 8 Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Securing a Sound Law of the Sea Instrument

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Millicay Fernanda
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Ocean Governance ◽  
Preparatory Committee ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
United Nations Convention

This chapter examines the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). It first provides an overview of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom), convened by the UN General Assembly to make recommendations on the elements for a possible future multilateral agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The material scope of the PrepCom is constituted by ‘the package’ agreed upon in 2011 and includes the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The chapter discusses the challenges of the package, focusing on two interlinked dimensions of the package plus the big issue that underlies it. It also considers two main tasks facing PrepCom: the first is to clearly identify all elements of each substantive set of issues composing the package, and the second task is to understand the implications of each element of these three substantive sets of issues and the inter-linkages between them.

scholarly journals Marine Technology Transfer under a BBNJ Treaty: A Case for Transnational Network Cooperation

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 144-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Minas
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Private Industry ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Marine Technology

Our ability to protect and sustainably use the high seas is ultimately subject to our ability to understand this vast and remote environment. The success of an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) will depend, in part, on utilizing technology to access ocean life, to analyze it, and to implement measures for its conservation and sustainable use. Indeed, technology, broadly defined, is integral to meeting the ILBI's objectives: not just the mandate to address “capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology,” but also the sustainable use and conservation of marine genetic resources, the implementation of environmental impact assessments, and biodiversity conservation measures such as area-based management tools. To maximize marine technology deployment to protect marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, transferring technology to developing countries will be critical. Provisions for the transfer of technology, generally from developed to developing countries, are included in many international environmental agreements and declarations, but these provisions have often proven difficult to implement. Part of the difficulty is that the relevant technology is dispersed among states; universities, research institutes and other nonstate actors; and private industry. The particular challenge in crafting an ILBI is, as the European Union has identified, to avoid repeating existing provisions and instead to “focus on added value.” One opportunity for an ILBI to add value on technology transfer is to further develop a network model to facilitate marine technology transfer.

scholarly journals Problems of Compulsory Jurisdiction and the Settlement of Disputes Relating to Straddling Fish Stocks

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.E. Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Legal Principle ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Right ◽  
Settlement Of Disputes ◽  
Fisheries Law ◽  
High Seas

AbstractModern fisheries law has for some time recognised the special interest of coastal states in the management of adjacent high seas fisheries. It has been slower to acknowledge a comparable interest on the part of high seas fishing states in the conservation and management of EEZ stocks by coastal states. This imbalance of rights and obligations between these two groups of states continues to be reflected in the fisheries articles of the 1982 UNCLOS and in the 1995 Agreement on Straddling and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. Much of the Law of the Sea Convention is about balancing the interests of different groups of states, and maintaining that balance is one of the reasons for adopting the principle of compulsory binding dispute settlement of disputes in Part XV of the Convention. Disputes about straddling fish stocks are necessarily disputes about the balance between coastal and high seas fishing states, and more generally, about the interest of the international community in sustainable management of stocks. Despite the significant changes which the 1995 Agreement makes to the substantive UNCLOS fisheries law, it remains far from clear that disputes concerning coastal state overfishing or inadequate management of straddling stocks within its own EEZ can be the subject of any form of binding process initiated by another fishing state or entity, even if there is a serious impact on the viability of stocks in other EEZs or on the high seas beyond national jurisdiction. But while coastal states and high seas states may have unequal rights and obligations with regard to fisheries access and management, they do have an equal interest in access to dispute settlement options. Both share a need for authoritative interpretation of difficult and complex texts; in both cases compulsory dispute settlement may be required in the event of failure to reach agreement on the management of shared access to straddling stocks. To hold that only coastal states have the right to compulsory binding settlement in such cases is to stabilise and protect one side of an equitable balance while leaving the other side vulnerable to erosion and instability. The question whether disputes concerning all or part of a straddling stock fall inside or outside compulsory jurisdiction is thus more than a technical question of treaty interpretation. It poses some fundamental questions about the nature of equitable utilisation as a legal principle governing use of common resources. Both in the interests of equitable access to justice, and the effective management and sustainable use of straddling stocks, compulsory jurisdiction should apply to all aspects of such a dispute. The rights of coastal states

A New Regime for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Angélique de La Fayette
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Marine Debris ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
National Jurisdiction

AbstractLife on earth, the climate, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat are to a large degree dependent on the health of the oceans and its biodiversity, which supports the global ecosystem. Ocean ecosystems provide essential services, food security and livelihoods to human beings all over the world. Yet, the oceans are currently or potentially threatened by human activities and their consequences, including: overfishing, destructive fishing practices, climate change, pollution from many sources, ocean acidification, habitat destruction, the spread of alien species, mineral exploration and exploitation, ocean dumping, underwater noise, marine debris, carbon sequestration, pipelines and cables, tourism, bioprospecting and marine scientific research. If we are to continue to benefit from the resources and services provided by the oceans, we must take urgent action to counter these threats. Some problems are already being addressed in various international instruments, most of which apply beyond national jurisdiction. However, because of the seriousness of the threats to marine ecosystems, States are considering whether existing measures are sufficient. Furthermore, with the recognition of the need to take an integrated, ecosystem approach to ocean management, some States are calling for an implementing agreement to the UN Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) to address both the conservation and the sustainable use of marine biological resources beyond national jurisdiction. This paper examines the legal background and urges States to elaborate an implementing agreement to the LOSC to create a new regime for marine biodiversity and genetic resources beyond national jurisdiction.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document