sovereignty of ocean resources

Question 1

deep water oil distribution

Answer 1

most proven and unproven reserves are in the south of the globe, on the coast

Question 2

sea floor resources

Answer 2

• underwater mining for minerals is receiving a lot of international attention
• 40 years ago, there was some recovery of manganese nodules from the sea bed, but it was expensive and commercially viable
• increasing commodity prices have reignited an interest in sea floor mining
• new technologies are helping to locate and mine sea floor resources
• there is concern over the impact on ocean ecosystems

Question 3

why is the south china sea important

Answer 3

• it is vital to the flow of global maritime trade because it is the link between the indian and pacific oceans
• ships passing through the s.china sea are estimated to carry over us$5 trillion in trade per year
• this includes around 25% of the oil carried by sea (over 15 million barrels per day) and more than 50% of the global trade in liquified natural gas (LNG)
• it is home to reef habitats that help support at least 3,365 known species of marine fish; for a relatively small part of the ocean, the s.china sea delivers an astonishing abundance of, estimated at 12% of the global fishing catch, worth us$21 billion per year
• these living resources provide employment to at least 3.7 million people and are fundamental to the food security of hundreds of millions of people in the region
• in 2013, US sources estimated that there were ‘provide and probable’ untapped resources, amounting to approx. 11 billon barrels of oil and 190 trillion ft3 of gas

Question 4

article 17

Answer 4

• ‘right of innocent passage’
• subject to this convention, ships of all states, whether coastal or land locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea
• right of transit passage used for international navigation
• right of innocent passage through archipelagic waters

Question 5

the importance of bilateral and multilateral agreements

Answer 5

• bilateral = between 2, multilateral = between many
• even though the relevance of international law of the sea can’t be denied, the fact remains that the enjoyment of those rights is contingent upon the negotiation made between land locked and transit states
• sub article 3 gives transit states a clause to ensure that by providing transit corridors, they are not putting their own interests at risk ‘in no way contravenes their legitimate interest’
• UN 2007 stated that ‘land locked states are so dependent on bilateral agreements pertaining to transit traffic’

Question 6

Ethiopia - Djibouti bilateral agreement

Answer 6

• Ethiopia is dependent on the transit routes of Djibouti for access to the sea following the Ethio-Eritrean war (1998-2000)
• the bilateral agreement has helped Ethiopia to enjoy the port of Djibouti and other related services
• the success of this is an example of why bilateral agreements are important and they can work
• in 2016, the new Ethiopia - Djibouti electric railway opened, the first of its kind in Africa
• although it is a poor country, Ethiopia has enjoyed recent growth rates of as much as 11.4% annually, which rivals well developed countries globally

Question 7

Zambia - a multilateral agreement

Answer 7

• China has become the world’s largest consumer of copper
• this makes Zambia an attractive place for China to invest
• in 1998, China non ferrous metals corporation brought Chambishi mine, one of the largest copper mines in Zambia
• the company have invested millions of dollars to improve the mine
• over 500 chinese companies now invest in Zambian businesses, ranging from mining to manufacturing, farming and tourism
• chinese investment in Zambia is not new, in the 1970s, TAZARA (Tanzanian Zambian railway authority) was founded by the chinese government
• the railway is 1,850km long from the copper belt region of Zambia to the port of bar es salaam in Tanzania
• it makes it easier for land locked Zambia to export its resources and at the same time, import other bulky goods

Question 8

UNCLOS and landlocked states

Answer 8

• article 17 - right of innocent passage
• article 148 - participation of developing states in activities in the area
• article 143 - marine scientific research
• article 125 - right of access to and from the sea and freedom of transit (transit states shall take necessary measures to protect their sovereignty if transit of other state’s goods, threatens to infringe their legitimate interest)
• article 127 - customs duties, taxes and other charges (traffic in transit shall not be subject to any customs duties, taxes or other charges except those levied for specific services)
• article 131 -equal treatment in maritime ports

Question 9

landlocked countries and the ocean

Answer 9

• landlocked countries are countries that have no coastline
• there are 44
• of the 15 lowest rank countries by HDI, landlocked countries account for 8
• GDP of landlocked countries is 40% lower than their maritime neighbours
• they are handicapped transporting goods
• rely on ‘transit states’
• transit states have little incentive to build infrastructure to help land locked countries
• border officials often extract bribes and cause delays, they have less than half the rate of progress per day in coastal states
• enterprises in landlocked states are regarded high risk due to interruptions in commerce
• flow of people and ideas that brought innovation to maritime countries largely bypassed landlocked countries
• successful landlocked countries exchange goods that either don’t travel (finance) or small high end goods (Switzerland and watches), which are easily transported by plane

Question 10

Bolivia and Chile

Answer 10

• Bolivia used to have a coastline but after the war of the pacific lost it as well as 120,000 sq km of land following Bolivia’s defeat (caused by unclear spanish colonial boundaries following their independence)
• the land that Bolivia lost is now a very prosperous copper rich mines, Chile claims they are happy to make negations but refuse to concede sovereignty
• Bolivia said that Chile had an obligation to ‘negotiate a sovereign access to the sea for Bolivia’
• it brought the territorial dispute to the international court of justice in the hague in 2013
• Chile and Bolivia have not had full diplomatic relations since 1978
• the UN ruled in Chile’s favour in 2018
• it is estimated that Bolivia’s GDP would be 20% higher if they had access to the sea
• a strike by Chilean customs (2013), caused a queue of lorries 112km long in Bolivia

Question 11

the arctic region

Answer 11

• has around 4 million inhabitants, including 40 different indigenous ethnic groups
• about 1.5 million visit the region as tourists
• the 8 countries that have land and sea territory within the artic circle: canada, usa, iceland, sweden, denmark, finland, norway, russia

Question 12

indigenous people in the arctic

Answer 12

• e.g. the inuit and chukchi people
• they hunt and fish in the arctic, their sustainable harvests of animals (e.g. seal, walrus) are greatly affected by patterns of sea ice and the weather
• the potential disruptions to the arctic marine ecosystem caused by thinning ice, decreasing ice cover and increasingly severe weather makes hunting less reliable and more dangerous
• these activates are are core part of their culture and its loss will have profound impacts on the way in which their societies operate
• could also have health implications if there is a reduction in food availability and diversity

Question 13

geopolitics of the arctic ocean

Answer 13

• two of the world’s superpowers, the usa and russia, confront each other over short distances and candian and european interests are also prominent
• claims over vast areas of the arctic ocean have been lodged
• a country can claim the sea bed up to a maximum of 280km beyond its EEZ
• this is gives a country rights to the non living resources, including oil, gas and minerals
• a country must prove that the sea bed is an extension of its continental shelf
• the militarisation of the artic is accelerating, all nations bordering the artic ocean have been investing in military infrastructure deigned for arctic operations
• there have been continual arguments over sovereignty

Question 14

minerals in the arctic

Answer 14

• a significant incentive for countries to focus on the artic is its mineral wealth
• as the sea ice and tundra melts, vast reserves are being revealed
• global transnational corporations in energy and mining industries are taking the prospect of recovering the vast reserves seriously
• this is a long term project dependent on further technological advances and relatively high commodity prices
• 13% of the world undiscovered oil
• 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas

Question 15

transport routes and the arctic

Answer 15

• until recently, the sea ice has made the artic ocean impossible for ships to pass through
• in 2014, the first cargo ship, unescorted by an ice breaking vessel, sailed trough the NWP (northwest atlantic to the pacific ocean)
• shipping companies could reduce their costs significantly by using these routes
• however, costs will increase as the high fuel consumption of vessels sailing through sea ice

Question 16

how can the arctic be managed

Answer 16

• the creation of an arctic sanctuary
• the arctic council
• the paris agreement
• an arctic treaty

Question 17

an arctic sanctuary

Answer 17

• it would establish a marine nature reserve, where any human activity harmful to wildlife would be banned
• it would protect the arctic from drilling and extensive fishing
• the proposed sanctuary would cover the central arctic ocean, beyond the 200 nautical mile limit from the coasts of the arctic countries
• this area is shared by the international community and no country would have any rights over it
• the area covered by the proposed sanctuary would be 2.8 million sq km, much smaller that the whole arctic ocean

Question 18

the arctic council

Answer 18

• formed in 1996 by governments of the 8 countries that border the arctic ocean together with 6 indigenous communities living in the arctic
• it is one of the first regional government bodies in the world devoted to environmental protection
• has a big focus on sustainability
• there is no international treaty and the arctic council has no legal powers to prevent member countries from carrying out harmful activites

Question 19

the paris agreement

Answer 19

• signed by 195 countries in 2015, it is the first legally binding global climate agreement
• sets out a global action plan to help the world to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming
• it may help slow the rate at which arctic sea is melting
• other agreements that could help are: UNCLOS, convention on biological diversity, long range treaty on atmospheric pollution

Question 20

an arctic treaty

Answer 20

• it has been suggested that, for the arctic to have a sustainable future, it needs its own treaty, similar to the antarctic treaty
• despite the work of the arctic council to protect the arctic, it still faces many challenges:
  global warming is melting sea ice; resource exploitation, like drilling for oil, environmental damages; pollution; populations of unique arctic species are declining (e.g. polar bears)

Question 21

the antarctic treaty

Answer 21

• signed in 1961 by 46 countries, one of the most successful agreements ever
• in 1961, the anarctic environment was also under threat
• in 1991, all member countries declared their commitments to maintaining and strengthening the treaty
• in 1998, they agreed a new environmental protocol
• the antarctica environment is protected and the only human activities permitted are scientific research and a limited amount of tourism
• scientific research in antarctica has made a big contribution to our understanding of the earth and climate change
• research there in the 1980s discovered the ozone hole in the atmosphere
• countries that signed had to agree to 9 conditions: to set aside any territorial claims, to ban commercial mining, to ensure all waste is disposed of (not entirely successful)

Question 22

environmental impacts of arctic resource exploration

Answer 22

• shorter shipping routes, which lowers greenhouse emissions
• oil spills
• loss of natural habitats
• melting ice (leading to flooding, infertile land and potential sea level rise)

Question 23

social impacts of arctic resource exploration

Answer 23

• jobs created for local people
• indigenous people can benefit for big business investment
• people forced from their native/local regions
• their way of life is damaged

Question 24

the difference between antarctica and the arctic

Answer 24

• antarctica is one continent not owned by one single place, whereas the arctic circle has 8 states with claims to sovereignty
• also it is easier for antarctica to define boundaries
• arctic circle surrounded by superpowers (e.g. USA and Russia) for are unlikely to cooperate with each other

Question 25

the Lomonosov ridge

Answer 25

• underwater ridge in the Arctic ocean
• nations want it in part of their continental shelf, so that they can have drilling rights
• is 1,800km
• the ridge divides the Arctic basin into the Eurasian basin and Amerasian basin