IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/glopol/v13y2022is3p76-85.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Global ocean governance in the Anthropocene: From extractive imaginaries to planetary boundaries?

Author

Listed:
  • Tim Stephens

Abstract

As with other fields of international law addressing human‐nature relations, the Anthropocene invites the reappraisal and reimagining of the law of the sea, the primary normative framework through which states regulate access to, and the use of, the global ocean. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) effected a major shift in global ocean governance towards a public order of the seas. However, the law of the sea remains substantially tethered to a Holocene conception of the ocean as a stable environmental domain of extractive exploitation and jurisdictional demarcation. This is illustrated by the confined scope of negotiations on a new implementing agreement under UNCLOS on the conservation and use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. Additionally, there has been limited acknowledgment of the multiple sites at which ocean governance in the Anthropocene takes place, in particular the central role of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It is contended that one way forward for addressing both these conceptual constraints and the UNCLOS and UNFCCC regime coordination challenges is the adoption of global ocean governance goals informed by the ‘Planetary Boundaries’ framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Tim Stephens, 2022. "Global ocean governance in the Anthropocene: From extractive imaginaries to planetary boundaries?," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(S3), pages 76-85, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:13:y:2022:i:s3:p:76-85
    DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.13111
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13111
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1758-5899.13111?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Natalya D. Gallo & David G. Victor & Lisa A. Levin, 2017. "Ocean commitments under the Paris Agreement," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 7(11), pages 833-838, November.
    2. Houghton, Katherine, 2014. "Identifying new pathways for ocean governance: The role of legal principles in areas beyond national jurisdiction," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 118-126.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dona Barirani, 2022. "A UN Treaty for Marine Biodiversity: Establishing Environmental Policy Integration in Global Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(3), pages 390-400, June.
    2. Luisetti, Tiziana & Turner, R. Kerry & Andrews, Julian E. & Jickells, Timothy D. & Kröger, Silke & Diesing, Markus & Paltriguera, Lucille & Johnson, Martin T. & Parker, Eleanor R. & Bakker, Dorothee , 2019. "Quantifying and valuing carbon flows and stores in coastal and shelf ecosystems in the UK," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 67-76.
    3. Shiiba, Nagisa & Maekawa, Miko & Vegh, Tibor & Virdin, John, 2022. "Tracking International Aid Projects for Ocean Conservation and Climate Action," ADBI Working Papers 1308, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    4. Daiju Narita & Hans-Otto Poertner & Katrin Rehdanz, 2020. "Accounting for risk transitions of ocean ecosystems under climate change: an economic justification for more ambitious policy responses," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 1-11, September.
    5. Jenna Dodson & Patricia Dérer & Philip Cafaro & Frank Götmark, 2022. "Population growth, family planning and the Paris Agreement: an assessment of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs)," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 561-576, September.
    6. Khadija Zulfiqar & M Jahanzeb Butt, 2021. "Preserving Community’s Environmental Interests in a Meta-Ocean Governance Framework towards Sustainable Development Goal 14: A Mechanism of Promoting Coordination between Institutions Responsible for ," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-25, September.
    7. Mingfei Ma & Xinyang Liu, 2023. "The Control of Microplastic Pollution in Semi-Closed Seas: Good-Faith Cooperation and Regional Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-12, August.
    8. Dan Liu, 2022. "The Interplay between the CAOF Agreement and BBNJ Agreement: A Chinese Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-18, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:glopol:v:13:y:2022:i:s3:p:76-85. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.