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Global governance of the Earth's Oceans (Post 1945 supranational…
Global governance of the Earth's Oceans
Post 1945 supranational institutions for global governance
NATIO
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
28 member states
mutual defence agreement
Several NATO members are major maritime powers including the UK and USA therefore NATO takes a special interest in maritime security
G7/8
8 nations (7 without Russia) including USA, UK, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Canada
In 2011, the G8 acted to stabilise Japan's economy after the tsunami
Leading countries with large economies meet to coordinate their responses to common economic challenges
EU
Politically integrated trade bloc
The only group of nations that allows all members, complete freedom of movement
Has it's own strict rules protecting Europe's seas and ocean waters under the Marine Directive
EU common fisheries agreement
Ships are forbidden from polluting the territorial waters of any EU countries
Any member found breaking these laws faces criminal penalties
Member states must abide by its economic and environmental laws or face sanctions including large fines
UN
UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural organisation
Helps protect the environment including oceans
First post war institution
UNCLOS
Covers all aspects of marine management
Convention on the law of the sea
UNs global governance framework for the oceans
Whole range of areas of governance including human rights, health, economics
Global conventions:
1992 Conference on the Environment and Development
UN Declaration of human rights, human rights council and high commissioner for refugees
G77
Group of developing countries
134 members
Lobbied developing countries to do more to tackle climate change
Functioned as a loose coalition of countries
So large there are diverging interests of the members which has limited the global potential impact
Laws and agreements regulating the Oceans to promote sustainable economic growth and geopolitical stability
UNCLOS and EEZ
UNCLOS purpose
Conservation
Territorial rights
Pre 1939: 'Freedom of the seas' principle states claimed jurisdiction only over 3Nm surrounding their coastlines
Establish EEZs: Foreign nations have rights to waters and airspaces subject to agreements and can lay submarine pipes
22Nm from a state's shoreline
Pollution
Sustainability agreements
Sustainable development goals (SDGs)
17 goals introduced in 2015
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Introduced in 1975 and adopted by 181 countries
Voluntary organisation
Recently, CITES regulations were strengthened in order to prevent illegal 'finning of endangered sharks'
Value of the Oceans for global superpowers
Oil transit chokepoints
Critical part of global energy security because of the high volume of petroleum and other liquids transported through their narrow straits
About 63% of the world's oil production moves on maritime routes
Narrow channels along widely used global sea routes
Strait of Hormuz and Strait of Malacca are the World's most important strategic chokepoints by volume
Important for security of maritime trade
Disruptions to the routes can affect oil prices and lengthen shipping journeys
Strait of Hormuz
17 million barrels of oil pass through every day
In 2012, Iran threatened to blockade the Strait which left 2 options to oil exporters: UAE has alternative pipelines that can export 3/4 of the exports through it, Saudi Arabia can export 1/3 through another pipeline
If the blockage happened, the oil prices could have risen by 50%
Transports 20% of worldwide oil trade
Piracy hotspots
These attacks are a risk to hotspots
Somali coastline
Causes:
In the South, Al-shabaab rebels act as a de-facto government, some say this has made it harder for pirates but some argue that the pirates and the rebels have a working relationship
No government to enforce the law
Emerged after the collapse of the government in 1991, commercial fishing boats started to exploit the area so local fishermen stated to arm themselves, boarding boats and charging fines
54% of the working age population was unemployed leading to a desperation to find a source of income
Government was in a state of political and civil unrest for years leading to a sense of lawlessness where much of the country was controlled by crime
This brings over $200 million to Somalia annually
Hijackings and kidnappings lasted an average go 6 months and the average ransom payment was over $5 million
Pirates invest in fishing villages therefore increasing the problem
Peak in 2011 when 746 hostages and 32 ships were held for ransom
That year the annual cost of piracy accounting for ransom payments, insurance premiums, cost of stolen property was US$10 billion
Eventually deterred by:
Ship-owners: reinforced their vessels with barbed wire, water canons, armed guards
International organisations
Interconnected efforts of governments: state governments and international institutions including NATO deployed more naval patrols
While East African crime has fallen, attacks in SE Asia particularly along the Indonesian coastline by the chokepoint for commercial shipping have risen with nearly 6/19 attacks happening there
Pirates siphon oil from slow moving tankers
One estimate: pirates stole 16,000 tonnes of oil products valued at US$5 million in 2015
Crews are badly hurt because pirates have little interest in ransoming them
International community intervention
In 2008, US led resolution 1851nauthorised states with navies to take action against pirates
UK security council passed a series of measures targeting Somalii piracy
Most effective way is to stop at the source but ships cannot violate a countries territorial waters and operate close enough to the coast to be successful
1994 UNCLOS bound nations to rule piracy as a universal crime, provide legal foundation to combat piracy
Piracy is defined as the act of attacking a ship at sea in order to make financial gains from that act
Data:
2011: 439 piracy attacks worldwide with over 50% in Somali
2016: 191 reported incidents
2010: Pirates attacked at least 445 ships and hijacked 53
Global connections due to UKs past colonies
In past, the UK was the world's greatest naval power
The Royal Navy dominated the world's oceans protecting the colonies and the trade routes
Connections have endured between ex-British territories since the Empire was dismantled in the 1960s
A global network of English speaking countries belong to the Commonwealth of Nations
Uk cities, London, Bristol and Liverpool are culturally diverse settlements as a result on the maritime heritage
Legacy of the way these places served as hubs for trade and migration
Global Flows of shipping and sea cables
Growth of Seafloor cable data networks
Increasing global access to computers is raising demand by 40% a year
Most seafloor cables are owned by MNCs E.G. the SE-ME-WE 5 cable is 20,000km long linking South East Asia, Middle East, and Western Europe involving 18 operators based un the three continents
Google, Microsoft and Amazon are major investors in new cables
Modern cables are cheaper, carry data faster than using satellites
Data cables are now recognised as critically important 21st century infrastructure and deserving special protection
Seafloor cables capable of sending messages have linked continents for over 150 years
Container shipping
World seaborne trade reached 10.6 billion tonnes in 2017
Container shipping:
Carry 60% of seaborne trade worth $12 trillion in 2017
quantity f goods has increased from 100 million tonnes in 1980 to 1.7 billion in 2016
Shipping has entered overcapacity with the increased capacity greater than trade resulting in the large Hanjan shipping Company going bankruptt in 2016
Increased by 90% in the last 20 years and the total fleet capacity has risen four fold
Oil tankers:
Account for 30% of global maritime trade
Capacity of tankers has increased by 73% since 2000
The size of a tanker is determined by the canals and chokepoints
The amount of oil transported is dependent on oil prices
Regulation:
The International Maritime Organisation requires oil tankers to have double hulls to help prevent spills
To reduce oil pollution tankers are prohibited from flushing out empty tankers with sea water
19/20 of the worst oil spills since 1967 were before 2000
UNCLOS allows the "Right of Secret Passage" through territorial waters although sometimes difficult to enforce requiring diplomacy and negotiation
1990s: 358 spills of 7 tonnes or over 2000s: 181 spills of 7 tonnes or over
Torrey Canyon 1967:15,000 sesames birds killed 80km of UK and 120km of French beaches contaminated, 119,000 tonnes spilt
Developing countries accounted for 59% of exports and 64& of imports
90% of the world's trade is carried by sea
Managing ocean movement
After the 2001 attack, maritime security standards were strengthened globally with the 2004 International Ships and Port Security Code, introduced by the UNs International Maritime Organisation, giving port authorities heightened security powers to monitor shipping and control access for vessels
The UN has made repeated calls for countries to work together to stop transnational organised crime flows, many of which use oceans and territorial waters as their operating space
Human trafficking generates $30 billion a year worldwide with an estimated 2.4 million victims from 127 countries
THe £770 million fishing industry is increasingly reliant on foreign labour
Migrants relying on organised crime are vulnerable and can end up in modern-day slavery
Marketing of illegal and counterfeit goods across continents and the smuggling of migrants and trafficking of people
A result of globalisation is the diserfication and international nature of illegal trade
Risks to global connectivity
Tectonic hazards and Landslides
Modern seabed mapping systems use sonar and seismic profilers to mitigate the risks
Set by physical geography
In 2006, a submarine earthquake and landslide destroyed Taiwan's telecom link with the Philippines
Tsunamis and Cyclones
The Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 damaged telecommunication networks in Malaysia and S Africa
Anchors and Trawling
Asia temporarily lost 75% of its internet capacity in 2008 when a ship's anchor severed a major internet artery running along the seabed from Italy to Egypt
The most common hazard accounting for 60% of cut cable incidents
Cable owners are allowed to use radar tracking systems to monitor ship movements and can warn ships if they are close to cables
Fish and Shark attacks
Long history of biting cables
Fish may be encouraged by a 'Strumming sensation' generated by electromagnetic fields
States can establish no fishing or anchoring zones around cables
Sabbotage
Commob in both world wars
Sovereignty of ocean resources
Distribution
Sea floor is a source of abiotic resources including food, fuel, renewable energy
Fossil fuels
Around 1/3rd of all oil and gas extracted comes from offshore sources
The greatest costs and risks are associated with deep water locations
The economic and environmental costs are astronomical
400 major deposits have been found in deep water locations due to advancing technology including the Santos basin
New offshore reserves are being found due to technological advances and geological theory including the Atlantic Mirror Theory
Mineral resources
Sand and gravel are the most mined and are extracted from shallow, coastal waters to be used in the construction industry
Its rarely profitable to exploit deep sea mineral resources, expensive and not always successful
Prices of many minerals dropped between 20114-2016 making it even less profitable
UNCLOS decided that high-sea resources' benefits should be shared by everyone, established the International Seabed Authority (ISA)
The EEZs defined by UNCLOS established a country's rights to control seabed resources
Resources are not every distributed or easily exploitable
Geopolitical tension
South China sea
China has claimed island groups and associated EEZs
Includes islands that China spent lots of money enlarging including the Spratly Islands
Gives China access to possible resources and control over I'm portent oil transportation routes
Phillipines contested the claims and in 2016 the UN declared the man-made islands too small to have EEZs and found in favour of the Philippines
China declared this unlawful
Conflict when EEZs overlap and countries disagree over the ownership of islands
Some countries with large continental shelves have argued that the shelf should be recognised as part of their land territory
Artic resources
As ice cover has thinned, there are now more easily accessible resources which have been claimed by rival superpowers
Canada, Norway, Russia, USA, Denmark
Thought to be one of the areas where conflict might increase in the future
It's thought about 90million barrels of oil are held in the Artic Ocean
Landlocked countries
Have the right to access and utilise the oceans but access through other countries can be difficult
45 countries without a coastline gain benefit from ocean resources
Goods can be delayed at boarder crossings Difficulties in trading can lead to slower economic growth, 16 landlocked countries are among the poorest in the world
No legal rights to the placer deposits of minerals and fossil fuels in coastal waters
Bolivia and Chile
Statistics suggest that the loss of the coastline has had serious economic implications for Bolivia, GDP would be 1/5th higher if still had direct access to the sea
Even now, Bolivias trade travels by road to Chile but lorries are often delayed by inspections, roads are poorly maintained and a customs strike by Chilean officers led to a 20km queue of Bolivia lorries in 2013
Chile promised to allow the 'fullest and freest' commercial transit to the Pacific
In 19th century Bolivia lost it's coastline to Chile in a war
Indigenous people
Some countries have claimed to have been unfairly treated in relation to their use/access to ocean resources they rely on
Alaska
A new mining development was proposed in Bristol Bay that threatened the local ecosystem in particular the salmon with water pollution
The local community ran an effective 'no dirty gold' campaign
Many native Americans live along the 14,000km of coastline, and earn a living from salmon, crab, and whitefish fisheries, food, oil, clothes
The mines received negative publicity and has not received the go ahead
Fishing and seafood are important part of the culture of coastal indigenous people
Managing Marine Environments
Global commons
High seas, atmosphere, Antarctica, space
Global scale, shared space outside the jurisdiction of any nation
More than 60% of oceans are designated as high seas by UNCLOS
A need for international cooperation
Tragedy of the Commons
In particular fish and whaling
1960s: Argued that it could happen on a global scale as population grows and there is an increased pressure on the World's resources
1700s: local scale
Importance highlighted in the UN sustainable Development Goal 14: 'Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, sea and marine resources for sustainable development
Management
Conservation
Allows continued use of ocean resources but with strict limits
Marine Protected Areas
Limit fishing, tourism, and mining
The Great Barrier Reef
Areas of the environment that have been reserved by law to protect part or all pf the natural resources within them
Marine conservation zones
Designed to protect a range of nationally important marine wildlife and habitats
50 MCZs in the seas around England
2009 UK Marine and Coastal Access Act allowed the creation of MCZs
Fishing quotas
North Sea Cod
EU, USA, New Zealand all employ quotas
To reduce catches to a biologically and economically sustainable level authorities will introduce Total Allowable Catches
Preservation
Views nature as something to be kept apart from human commerce entirely
No catch zones
Marine areas where the removal of any resource is prohibited
3 in UK, Lundy, Flamborough Head, Lamlash Bay
Needs to be economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable
Overexploitation
Causes
Increasing population: increased demand for food
A global doubling in fish consumption between 1960-2016
Most due to emerging economies where increased wealth leads to changing tastes
Technological advances: solar allows boats to track and catch shoals of fish and bigger catches
Longlining: Increase in the use if this fishing technique where thousands of fish can be caught at once
Factory ships: huge ships with freezers allow ships to stay out at sea for longer therefore catching more fish
Consequences
In Senegal there is an 80% unemployment among fisherman
The Great Bank, Newfoundland
1992
Used to be one of the world's most productive fishing grounds
Overfishing and poor management by stakeholders, government, consumers and industry
The entire fish stock collapsed and the ecosystem never recovered
40,000 jobs lost having economic and social consequences
Increase in technology, increased catch, decreased number of cod
Competition from commercial fishing fleets has resulted in small fishing operations in Southeast Asia being taken over: loss of livelihood
Fish provide the World's population with 15% of its dietary animal protein, and in many developing countries it is an affordable food
North Sea Cod
Could be certified as sustainable within 5 years
Cod is slowly recovering
Regulations put in place before the threshold was reached
Heavily overfished during 1980s and 1990s
Whaling
Since 1946 the whale industry has been regulated by the International Whaling Commission
1986 the IWC called for an indefinite ban on commercial whale hunting
UNCLOS required all 168 member states to follow the guidelines
Some indigenous communities continue to permit commercial whale hunting
Japan continues to defy the requirement
Kuznet curve shows a model for environmental damage and recovery in line with social and economic changes
Managing ocean pollution
Sources
Wate disposal
Rubbish is dumped from shipping
In the North Sea up t o40% of marine litter comes from shipping creating 20,000 tonnes of waste
Over 80% of all waste dumped at sea is material that has been dredged from elsewhere
Oil spills
Tanker accidents have reduced from an average 24.5 per year in the 1970s to 1.7 since 2010
Between 2000-2017 there were 53 spills from tankers resulting in 47,000 tonnes of oil being lost
Pollution from the atmosphere
The ocean naturally absorbs carbon dioxide
As the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere increases due to climate change the ocean absorbs more and become more acidic
Terrestrial runoff
Water running from the land can pollute the oceans by carrying fertilisers, oil from road surfaces, waste from industrial activity, treated and untreated sewage etc.
Causes
Marine pollution can be deliberate and accidental
Up to 80% of marine pollution originates from land
Consequences
Eutrophic dead zones
Fertilisers are washed into the sea, increasing the productivity of marine ecosystems
Phytoplankton grow rapidly creating an algal bloom
Algal blooms prevent sunlight penetrating the surface preventing oxygen being absorbed by organisms
The Baltic sea has 7 of the 10 largest dead zones due to increased runoff of agricultural fertilisers and sewage
Plastic garbage patch
The massive increase un the use of plastics globally has led to large amounts finding their way to the oceans
Plastic bottles can take 450 years to break down
It has been discovered that degrading plastics release toxic chemicals such as bisphenol into the oceans
Circulating ocean currents called gyres consolidate debris into certain parts of the world's oceans known as garbage patches
The North Pacific garbage patch
1.6 million km^2
Estimated to contain 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic
Animals can get entangled
Seabirds ingest plastic often mistaking it for food
Plastic is found in 80% of seabirds
Oil spills
Seabirds land on oil spills and get covered in oil
When oil gets on to the feathers it prevents birds from flying and destroys the waterproof and insulation resulting in hypothermia
The blowholes of dolphins become clogged affecting breathing
Oil coats the fur of otters and seals making them vulnerable to hypothermia
Fish can be poisoned by oil
Torrey Canyon 1967 killed 15,000 seabirds
Management
UNCLOS
Each coastal state can enforce its pollution measures in the marine area of it's EEZs
EU
Requires all members to take necessary measures to achieve and maintain "Good environment; status" of the environment by 2020
UK
Microbeads have been banned
Government promised £61.4 million to deal with plastic pollution in the oceans in 2018
Charge for carrier bags
Varying scales
International EU and national rules on waste management
Individual action
Global conventions UNCLOS
NGO actions
Success will involve all these groups in a multi-dimensional solution
NGOs
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace
Attempt to raise awareness for the plastic problem
Ocean Cleanup foundation
Non-profit set up in 2013
Aims to develop technologies to remove plastic from oceans
Aims to clean half of the Pacific garbage patch within 5 years