The Future of Compulsory Dispute Settlement Under The Law of the Sea Convention

In this article Rosemary Rayfuse evaluates the dispute resolution provisions found in Part XV of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS). While the cases emerging from the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to date have been limited in number, they can provide us with some idea of whether the Part XV machinery has been successful, and allow some predictions to be made as to its continuing role in the development of the law of the sea. Having examined this jurisprudence, she concludes that while the fears of fragmentation in the sense of inconsistent interpretations or applications of legal rules have not yet materialised, the overall role for the dispute settlement provisions in the development of international law seems rather limited

Climate change mitigation activities in the ocean: turning up the regulatory heat

The adverse impacts of anthropogenically induced climate change on the terrestrial and marine environments have been acknowledged by a succession of expert reports commissioned by global and national bodies (IPCC 2007; Preston and Jones 2006; Stern et al. 2006). The threats posed by climate change to the global environment have fostered heightened scientific and commercial interest in a range of CO2 sequestration methods that either involve the ocean or affect the marine environment. The most developed proposals to date relate to offshore carbon capture and storage (OCCS), which seeks to capture carbon dioxide from point sources of emissions and sequester it in sub-seabed geological formations

Australia and Canada in Regional Fisheries Organizations: Implementing the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

In the late 1980s and early 1990s a number of factors and events coalesced to encourage the international community to re-examine high seas fisheries issues. The need to enhance the effectiveness of regional fisheries organizations led to the development of the 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, dealing with straddling and highly migratory stocks. Both Canada and Australia played a significant role in the development of this agreement While having much in common, each state had different interests and concerns Canada\u27s attention was focused on the problem of straddling stocks, while Australia \u27s interests have been primarily, though not exclusively, directed at highly migratory species. This paper analyses Australian and Canadian practices in relation to regional fishenes organizations, with a particular emphasis on the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

Current Legal Developments: International Union for The Conservation of Nature

The Workshop on High Seas Governance for the 21st Century was held in New York City on 17-19 October 2007. Over 50 leading experts in international marine policy, science, law and economics gathered to explore policy and regulatory options to improve oceans governance beyond areas of national jurisdiction (BANJ), particularly as they relate to the protection and preservation of the marine environment and marine biological diversity. Participants attended in their personal capacity and the Workshop was conducted under Chatham House Rules. Co-chairs of the Workshop were David Freestone, Kristina Gjerde, Rosemary Rayfuse and David VanderZwaag

The Ocean Governance Regime

Like the ocean itself, the international institutions and organizations tasked with governing maritime activities are sprawling and complex. The contemporary ocean governance regime comprises the rules, norms, principles, and decision-making procedures designed to collectively manage the myriad users and multiple uses of the Earth’s oceans. The regime itself has a rich and storied history, culminating in a flurry of regime-building activities in the second half of the twentieth century. In general, ideas about the collective governance of ocean space emerged alongside growth in human activities on and under the seas, and as the intensity of uses increased, so, too, did the calls for formulating international consensus about the status of marine space and maritime resources. This chapter reviews the historical development and contemporary status of the ocean governance regime. It lays the foundation for deeper analyses of climate change and ocean governance in subsequent chapters

U.S. Natural Resources and Climate Change: Concepts and Approaches for Management Adaptation

Public lands and waters in the United States traditionally have been managed using frameworks and objectives that were established under an implicit assumption of stable climatic conditions. However, projected climatic changes render this assumption invalid. Here, we summarize general principles for management adaptations that have emerged from a major literature review. These general principles cover many topics including: (1) how to assess climate impacts to ecosystem processes that are key to management goals; (2) using management practices to support ecosystem resilience; (3) converting barriers that may inhibit management responses into opportunities for successful implementation; and (4) promoting flexible decision making that takes into account challenges of scale and thresholds. To date, the literature on management adaptations to climate change has mostly focused on strategies for bolstering the resilience of ecosystems to persist in their current states. Yet in the longer term, it is anticipated that climate change will push certain ecosystems and species beyond their capacity to recover. When managing to support resilience becomes infeasible, adaptation may require more than simply changing management practices—it may require changing management goals and managing transitions to new ecosystem states. After transitions have occurred, management will again support resilience—this time for a new ecosystem state. Thus, successful management of natural resources in the context of climate change will require recognition on the part of managers and decisions makers of the need to cycle between “managing for resilience” and “managing for change.