Ocean Governance

Question 1

Laws and agreements of ocean governance

Answer 1

• regulate use of oceans to promote sustainable economic growth and geopolitical stability
• UNCLOS and EEZ are important international law to oceans

Question 2

Evolution of UNCLOS and the EEZ

Answer 2

• pre 1939 = oceans subject to ‘freedom of the seas’ states claim 3 mile belts around coastline
• 1940-50s = growing recognition of ocean threats such as pollution, toll on fishing stocks, new territorial claims over seafloor oil, gas and minerals
• 1960-70s = countries claim larger territory, fish stocks showing signs of depletion, offshore oil in North Sea brought UK, Denmark and Germany into political conflict
• 1973-82 = UNCLOS developed - comprehensive treaty designed to tackle marine pollution, overfishing and competing territorial claims between states
• establishment of EEZs, area of water extending 200 nm from a state’s shoreline, giving coastal states legal ownership of nearby ocean resource
• coastal state has right to exploit, develop and manage or conserve all abiotic and biotic resources found in water or ocean floor of their own EEZ

Question 3

Sustainability Agreements

Answer 3

• important contributions made towards sustainability and use of marine ecosystems by UN agreements
• 2015 SDGs (sustainable development goals) = 19 SDGs introduced in 2015, set targets agreed by 2000 world leaders, provide guidelines for human development by setting out priorities - ‘conserve and sustainably use oceans and marine resources’
• 1975 CITES (convention on international trade in endangered species) = banned trade in threatened species and their products, adopted by 181 countries, effectively saving some species - rising wealth in Asia increased trade in products such as fins of endangered sharks, CITES prevented illegal ‘finning’

Question 4

Maritime Superpowers

Answer 4

• e.g. USA and China
• control is valued by powerful states as a way of increasing and safeguarding global influence
• UK was once world’s greatest naval power, dominating world’s oceans by 1920, protecting colonies and trade routes between them and Britain
• British empire grew in two distinct phases using naval power:
• pre 1850 = small colonies conquered coastal fringes and islands, trade protected by forts and navy and economic interests safeguarded
• 1850-1945 = coastal colonies extended inland, colonial administrators ruled population, complex patterns of ocean trade developed including export of UK manufactured goods, empire dismantled in 1960s, British speaking countries became part of commonwealth of Nations
• UK cities with maritime heritage, e.g. Liverpool, London are culturally diverse settlements, legacy of the way these places served as hubs for trade and immigration into UK
• e.g. HMS Windrush Jamaica to London

Question 5

Oil Transit chokepoints

Answer 5

= narrow channels along widely used global sea routes, critical parts of energy security due to high volume of petroleum and other liquids transported through narrow straits

• 63% oil production moves on maritime routes, strait of Malacca and Hormuz are worlds most strategic chokepoints by volume of oil transit
• disruption to crucial routes may affect oil prices and lengthen journeys
• Panama Canal deepened to accommodate larger vessels, easing pressure on middle eastern chokepoints
• global shipping industry struggling to remain profitable due to sluggish trade growth, China’s ‘slow down’ and lower oil prices
• many operators continue to take longer route via Suez canal rather than Panama Canal as it is cheaper

Question 6

Risk of Piracy hotspots

Answer 6

• particularly at risk in east coast of Africa
• recently decreased along E.African coast and Gulf of Aden
• problem mainly due to civil war in Somalia , peaked in 2011 when at one time 736 hostages and 32 ships held at ransom in anchorage off Somali beaches
• annual cost of piracy is approx $10 billion
• somali pirates eventually deterred by interconnected efforts of governments, international organisations and ship-owners, NATO deployed more naval patrol, ship owners reinforced barbed wire, water cannons and naval patrol, ships re-routed
• attacks in SE Asia, particularly Indonesian coastline have risen, nearly 60% of piracy crimes occur there
• in 2015, pirates stole approx 16,000 tonnes of oil costing $5 million