Reconciling the rule of law with adaptive regulation of marine ecosystems – Challenges and opportunities for the Arctic and beyond

Non peer reviewe

Resilience and Adaptive Capacity of Aquatic Environmental Law in the EU : An evaluation and comparison of the WFD, MSFD, and MSPD

Peer reviewe

From Arctic Science to International Law: The Road towards the Minamata Convention and the Role of the Arctic Council

The Minamata Convention, which entered into force on 16 August 2017, is a global, legally binding instrument on mercury. The initiative on the Minamata Convention was mainly driven by research showing negative effects on human health and the environment in the Arctic. The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation on Arctic issues, and its Working Group, AMAP, played an important role in the process leading up to international negotiations on the Minamata Convention. This paper elucidates the evolutionary process in which scientific knowledge, herded by an intergovernmental, regional forum, is involved and forms the basis for a legally binding agreement. The paper provides new insight on multilevel governance of the mercury issue and unravels the role that AMAP has played in this dynamic process.publishedVersio

Kartlegging av havnivåforvaltningen i Danmark, Nederland og Storbritannia

Prosjektleder: Line Johanne BarkvedThis report, commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA), explores and documents the governance of sea level changes in Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. These sea level changes consist of the effects of rising sea levels, storm surges, and wave impacts. The aim is to provide Norway with relevant examples and insights. The study maps the governance arrangements of the three countries without directly comparing or evaluating their efforts. It covers how responsibilities are allocated, the use of knowledge tools and databases, financial mechanisms, and overall experiences with the governance of sea level changes in these countries.Norwegian Environmental AgencypublishedVersio

Conserving Our Ecosystems: The Need to Recognize a Coherent Legal System as an Important Element of the Ecosystem Approach

The Ecosystem Approach The ecosystem approach, which requires a holistic and integrated approach towards an ecosystem, has been endorsed in many legal acts. At the international level, the European level and the national level, the ecosystem approach is considered an important strategy to protect our ecosystems. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the architecture and nature of environmental law and the realization of the ecosystem approach. The term ‘environmental law’ is used in its broadest understanding, meaning not only the legal acts that have the protection of the environment as their main goal, but all the legal acts that can have an effect on the environment. In the case of an ecosystem, various legal acts may be applicable at the same time or may have an effect on the ecosystem. Due to the fragmentation of environmental law, different acts may be aimed at the protection of different elements of the ecosystem, such as the water and the species; or they aim to regulate different activities within that ecosystem, such as shipping, building, aquaculture, and fishing; or they may have an unintended effect on the ecosystem such as the adverse effects from industry, trade and transport. The Fragmentation of Environmental Law and Governance In this fragmented environmental law, it could be difficult or challenging to realize an ecosystem approach. This is perhaps complicated by the fact that these different legal acts are implemented under different administrative sectors with different interests, tools and traditions, and by the fact that the legal acts entail a degree of discretion or flexibility for administrative bodies. The Weighing and Balancing of Diverging Values Often when decisions are made that also affect the ecosystem, some form of weighing and balancing of diverging values is required. The ecosystem needs to be valued, and this value needs to be balanced against the other interests or values that are at stake in the particular case. Both the valuation exercise and the balancing exercise are difficult. This is due to the fact that the values on both sides of the balance may be very diverging and of different nature, and therefore difficult to compare in essence. The value judgment, that comprises both the valuation exercise and the balancing exercise, plays an important role in the realization of the ecosystem approach. Consistency and Coherence in Environmental Law The ecosystem approach requires a degree of consistency or coherence in the regulation of value judgments by law and the carrying out of such judgments by administrative bodies. This research aims to explore how value judgments are regulated in environmental law, the degree of (in)consistency between the various legal acts towards value judgments, and how this affects the realization of the ecosystem approach. The hypothesis is that inconsistency in environmental law allows for diverging value judgments on (parts of) the same ecosystem and that this hinders the realization of an ecosystem approach

Policy coherence for the protection of water resources against agricultural pollution in the EU and Norway

Throughout the European Union (EU), agricultural practices contribute significantly to the pollution of water resources by nitrates, phosphorus and pesticides. This article sheds light on the degree of horizontal legal coherence between the main EU legal and policy instruments applicable to the protection of water resources from agricultural pollution. After identifying key coherence challenges at the EU level, the article thoroughly assesses the regulatory and governance approach in Norway. The key question is how certain EU-level coherence challenges could be mitigated at a national level through mechanisms aimed at facilitating cross-sectoral coordination and policy coherence. Three types of mechanisms have been selected for this purpose: (i) legal mechanisms, including cross-referencing and joint institutional responsibility for implementation; (ii) the establishment of platforms for cross-sectoral policy coordination or actor participation; and (iii) the establishment of monitoring and reporting processes that ensure access to information and data sharing.publishedVersio

Potensial for restaurering og reintroduksjon av ålegrasenger i Oslofjorden, og mulighetene dette kan gi for klimatilpasning, karbonopptak og lagring

Prosjektleder Kristina Øie KvileÅlegrasenger er en viktig naturtype som huser et rikt biologisk mangfold og bidrar med en rekke økosystemtjenester, inkludert opptak og lagring av CO2. Klimaetaten i Oslo kommune ønsket en utredning av kunnskapsgrunnlaget og kartlegging av muligheter for restaurering eller reintroduksjon av ålegrasenger i sine sjøområder, og hvordan dette vil påvirke karbonopptak og klimatilpasning i Oslofjorden. I denne rapporten presenteres gjeldende kunnskap om ålegrasenger og deres økosystemtjenester og rolle for karbonopptak og klimatilpasning. Trusler mot ålegrasenger og hvordan restaurering av ålegrasenger kan motvirke de negative trendene, er også vurdert, med fokus på kystområdene innenfor Oslo kommunes grenser. Relevante lover og regler i forbindelse med restaurering blir også diskutert. I oktober 2021 gjennomførte NIVA en befaring for å undersøke relevante områder for restaurering, som er presentert i denne rapporten. En detaljert beskrivelse av hvordan restaurering kan gjennomføres presenteres i en egen rapport.publishedVersio

From strategic marine planning to project licences : Striking a balance between predictability and adaptability in the management of aquaculture and offshore wind farms

Funded by The Research Council of Norway, Grant ID 255586.Peer reviewedPostprin

Protection of drinking water resources from agricultural pressures: Effectiveness of EU regulations in the context of local realities

Publication history: Accepted - 22 February 2021; Published online - 15 March 2021Over the last decades, nutrients and pesticides have proved to be a major source of the pollution of drinking water resources in Europe. Extensive legislation has been developed by the EU to protect drinking water resources from agricultural pollution, but the achievement of water quality objectives is still an ongoing challenge throughout Europe. The study aims to identify lessons that can be learnt about the coherence and consistency of the application of EU regulations, and their effects at the local level, using qualitative expert data for 13 local to regional governance arrangements in 11 different European countries. The results show that the complexities and inconsistencies of European legislation drawn up to protect drinking water resources from agricultural pollution come forward most explicitly at local level where cross-sectoral measures have to be taken and effects monitored. At this local level, rather than facilitate, they hamper efforts to achieve water quality objectives. The upcoming revision of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) should strengthen the links between the different directives and how they could be applied at local level. In addition, a more facilitated cross-sectoral approach should be adopted to improve stakeholder networks, between institutional levels and hydrological scales, to attain policy objectives at local level.This research was carried out under the H2020 Fairway project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 72798

Dimensions of transboundary legal coherence needed to foster ecosystem-based governance in the Arctic

The Arctic is a complex geographical area to govern sustainably due to strong geopolitical and socio-economic interests, high ecological vulnerability and importance, and significant legal and institutional fragmentation. Intensifying human pressures in this area necessitate an ecosystem-based and adaptive governance approach, an approach that enables managing socio-ecological resilience in the Arctic. As the Arctic is a large geographic area crossing multiple national jurisdictions and maritime zones, including high seas areas, regionally coordinated and coherent governance approaches would be desirable. This paper assesses the status quo for ecosystem-based governance (EBG) in the Arctic, suggests a focus on three core components of EBG, and proposes three forms of legal coherence to foster these core components. The paper concludes with examining what role the Arctic Council plays and could play to strengthen EBG in the Arctic.publishedVersio