scholarly journals The Voice of Science on Marine Biodiversity Negotiations: A Systematic Literature Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki ◽  
Alice B. M. Vadrot
Keyword(s):  
Science Policy ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Management Tools

Over one hundred governments are currently negotiating a new legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The new agreement is to address four broad themes: marine genetic resources (MGRs); area-based management tools (ABMTs), including marine protected areas (MPAs); environmental impact assessments (EIAs); and capacity building and the transfer of marine technology (CB&TT). Although a large corpus of scientific BBNJ literature exists, a comprehensive overview and critical analysis of the academic debate is currently missing. This systematic review seeks to fill this gap by examining the main priority topics and recommendations in a sample of 140 multidisciplinary, geographically diverse publications. As an up-to-date summary and analysis, it is intended for researchers from diverse academic disciplines in the natural and social sciences, policy-makers, and practitioners. It untangles the complex BBNJ negotiations, highlights the policy relevance of existing work, and facilitates links between science, policy, and practice. It presents recommendations made in the literature sample for each of the four package elements of the future treaty and identifies four overarching themes: ocean connectivity, institutional design, the role of science, and digital technology. This paper identifies two important gaps that need to be addressed if we are to conserve marine biodiversity in international waters: the science-policy interfaces and the need for transformative change.

scholarly journals Unity or Fragmentation in the Deep Blue: Choices in Institutional Design for Marine Biological Diversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Institutional Structure ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Marine Biological ◽  
Deep Blue ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
National Jurisdiction

Delegations are in the final stages of negotiating the proposed Agreement 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 Agreement or Agreement). The Agreement will have tremendous scope. Geographically it covers all ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction, meaning approximately 60 percent of the earth’s surface. Substantively it deals with a range of complex topics necessary for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, including marine genetic resources, sharing of benefits, measures such as area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, environmental impact assessments and capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology. Existing scholarship primarily explores the substantive choices for the Agreement; little examines its proposed institutional structure. This article critically assesses the competing positions advanced during negotiations for the Agreement’s institutional structure – the ‘global’ and ‘regional’ positions – and reviews the middle, or ‘compromise’ position adopted by the draft text. It suggests that both global and regional actors will be necessary to conserve and sustainably use marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and that some form of coordinating mechanism is required to allocate responsibility for particular tasks. Two principles are proposed for use in combination to provide a mechanism to help coordinate Agreement organs (global) and regional or sectoral bodies, namely, the principles of subsidiarity and cooperation. These principles are found in existing international and regional structures but are advanced here in dynamic forms, allowing for temporary or quasi-permanent allocation of competences, which can change or evolve over time. This position is also grounded in the international law of treaties and furthers dynamic views of regional and global ocean governance by offering practical coordinating principles that work with the existing Agreement text.

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.

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.

Submarine Telecommunication Cables and a Biodiversity Agreement in abnj: Finding New Routes for Cooperation

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Cable Industry ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Preparatory Committee ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Submarine Cables

In 2016, countries began meeting at the United Nations (un) to prepare for negotiations to develop an international legally binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (abnj). How the instrument will relate to submarine cables, if at all, remains to be decided. The preparatory committee will address a “package” of issues, among them the application of area-based management tools, including marine protected areas (mpas) and environmental impact assessments (eias) to activities in abnj. eias and mpas already affect submarine cable operations in national jurisdictions. In abnj, a new instrument should formalize a cooperative framework with the cable industry to provide limited environmental management where necessary without over-burdening cable operations. This approach would be consistent with the un Convention on the Law of the Sea and could also inform governance with respect to other activities likely to be benign in abnj.

scholarly journals Managing Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Molenaar
Keyword(s):  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Rate Loss

AbstractThe global loss of biological diversity (biodiversity), both terrestrial and marine, occurs currently at an alarming and probably unprecedented rate. The main purpose of this article—which focuses in particular on marine capture fisheries—is to identify shortcomings in the international legal framework relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and possible solutions for selected shortcomings. The latter relate to discrete high seas fish stocks, deep-sea species and fisheries, integrated marine protected areas (MPAs) in ABNJ and, finally, to existing and new rights to conserve marine biodiversity. The main argument on this last topic is that in view of the current rate loss of marine biodiversity, reform should not just be limited to the traditional approach of strengthening, deepening and broadening obligations but should be balanced with optimizing use of existing rights and/or granting new rights to ensure that the overarching balance between socio-economic interests and the interests of marine biodiversity of present and future generations is archived.

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.

Capacity Building and Technology Transfer for Marine Biodiversity in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 243-245
Author(s):  
Harriet Harden-Davies
Keyword(s):  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Capacity Development ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
United Nations Convention

Marine science and technology have long been recognized as key issues to enable states to implement the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Scientific capacity development and technology transfer are cross-cutting issues in the development of a new international legally binding instrument (ILBI) for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction under UNCLOS. The acquisition, exchange, and application of scientific knowledge are critical issues in the development of the ILBI.

Redefining environmental stewardship to deliver governance frameworks for marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction

2017 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 435-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope Ridings
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Legal Principles ◽  
National Jurisdiction

Abstract In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly decided to develop an international legally binding instrument (ILBI) under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. To that end, it established a Preparatory Committee (PrepCom), to make substantive recommendations to the General Assembly on the elements of a draft text of an ILBI. The PrepCom has identified the tension between the principle of the common heritage of mankind and high seas freedoms embodied in UNCLOS as one of the issues which must be addressed in such an international agreement. Some participants in the process have proposed a sui generis regime as a way of resolving any apparent clash of these international legal principles, particularly as it relates to marine genetic resources and their access and benefit sharing. This article argues that environmental stewardship may provide the framework for such a sui generis regime. For it to do so, however, it must be grounded in international legal principles and act as a balance between competing values, perspectives and interests in the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. If appropriately redefined in this way, environmental stewardship can deliver a governance framework which addresses some of the central issues with which the PrepCom will have to deal. These include the practical problems of access and benefit sharing of the marine genetic resources of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and reconciling the conflicting pressure for international decision-making for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity on the one hand, and the maintenance of existing regional and sectoral frameworks on the other. Environmental stewardship, redefined, can provide an intellectual framework for an ILBI under UNCLOS on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.

scholarly journals Measuring progress in marine protection: A new set of metrics to evaluate the strength of marine protected area networks

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey Roberts ◽  
Rebecca Valkan ◽  
Carly Cook
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Current Value ◽  
Marine Protection ◽  
Mpa Network

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have proven to be a valuable tool for both promoting the sustainable use of marine resources and long-term biodiversity conservation outcomes. Targets for marine protection under the Convention on Biological Diversity have seen rapid growth in MPAs globally, with progress judged using targets for total area protected rather than evaluating growth based on the capacity to protect biodiversity. The value of a MPA network to biodiversity conservation depends on a range of attributes of both individual MPAs and portfolios of MPAs, which are not captured by simple area-based targets. Therefore, a clear and efficient set of metrics are needed to effectively evaluate progress towards building MPA networks, considering the representation and adequacy of protection for biodiversity. We developed a universally applicable set of metrics that can evaluate network structure in relation to its capacity to conserve marine biodiversity. These metrics combine properties of effective individual MPAs with metrics for their capacity to function collectively as a network. To demonstrate the value of these metrics, we apply them to the Australian MPA network, the largest in the world. Collectively, the indicators suggest that while Australia has made significant progress in building a representative and well-structured MPA network, the level of protection offered to marine biodiversity is generally low, with insufficient coverage of no-take MPAs across many bioregions. The metrics reveal how the current value of the MPA network could be greatly increased by reducing the prevalence of multi-use zones that allow extractive activities known to negatively impact biodiversity.

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