ANNOUNCEMENTS:
New publication by Alice Vadrot, Arne Langlet and Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki in Environmental Politics
Who owns marine biodiversity? Contesting the world order through the `common heritage of humankind´ principle
The governance of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) lacks a legal framework that would ensure the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans. In order to fill this gap, governments have been negotiating a new treaty under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Negotiations have been afflicted by polarisation between two principles: The ‘Freedom of the High Seas’ (FOS) and the ‘Common Heritage of Humankind’ (CHP). Instead of discussing the CHP from a purely legal perspective, we examined, through an ethnographic lens, how it has become a practice of contestation: it is used as a tool and negotiation technique to challenge deeply rooted inequalities in the current world order. The CHP could make a difference if it was integrated into the text as a general principle committing all states to protect and preserve BBNJ for future generations – regardless of their imminent economic value as commercial assets.
Read the article here
New publication by the MARIPOLDATA team in Global Environmental Politics
Marine Biodiversity Negotiations During COVID-19: A New Role for Digital Diplomacy?
Measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic have indefinitely postponed in-person formal international negotiations for a new legally binding instrument 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). As a result, online initiatives have emerged to keep informal dialogue ongoing among both state and nonstate actors. To continue our research on the BBNJ process, we adapted our methodology and conducted a survey in May 2020 exploring the impact of COVID-19 on respondents’ BBNJ-related work and communication.
Read the research note here
EVENT:
Capacity building and the BBNJ Agreement
Guest: Dr. Harriet Harden-Davies, Australian Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS)
Date: May 19, 2021
Time:17:00-18:30 (CEST)
More information…
Developing Countries in BBNJ – Interests and Perspectives of CARICOM
Guest: Kahlil Hassanali, World Maritime University – Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute
Date: June 23, 2021
Time: 17:00-18:30 (CEST)
More information…
IN THE MEDIA:
DATUM
Worüber wir jetzt reden müssen
Alice Vadrot: Der Schutz mariner Biodiversität bekommt zu wenig Aufmerksamkeit
Wir haben sieben Wissenschaftler gefragt, welche Aspekte ihrer Forschung zu wenig Öffentlichkeit bekommen – und warum sich das dringend ändern sollte.
DATUM Ausgabe März 2021 here
