A framework for ocean sustainability: UNCLOS, or what else?
Workshop: Filling the legal toolbox for working towards ocean sustainability
On the 17th and 18th of November of 2022, the Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea (NILOS) and the Utrecht Center for Water, Oceans, and Sustainability (UCWOSL), in collaboration with the Center for International Law (CIR) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, hosted the workshop Filling the Legal Toolbox for Working Toward Ocean Sustainability at the Ministry in The Hague. The workshop invited a number of experts in the field, both academics and practitioners, to engage in a series of panels, and a round table on the final day of the workshop.
On the 17th of November, the workshop began with a panel presentation and discussion about the possible actions that can be taken to address the human impact on marine biodiversity. Panelists had been asked to leave aside the restraints of the current governance framework and instead focus on effective pathways towards ocean sustainability. The second panel focused on the question whether the Convention is the best possible framework for ocean governance, considering geopolitical realities, or whether there would be scope for revisiting the package deal that was struck in adopting the Convention.
On the 18th of November, the day began with a panel on maritime security issues, among others focusing on the human rights dimension, followed by a panel on delivering equity to developing states including small island developing states. The panel among others considered the current push for an advisory opinion to address the interactions between the law of the sea and climate change. The third panel of this day concerned the gaps in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and addressed the possibilities for systemic integration of the Convention and other relevant instruments. At the round table a number of academic experts and practitioners engaged in a discussion of some of the main themes that emerged from the workshop and took questions from the floor.