Haikou, China News Service, November 24, Title: Where is the road to global ocean governance?

Author Wu Shicun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the China-Southeast Asia South China Sea Research Center and Chairman of the Huayang Ocean Research Center

Global ocean governance has emerged and developed with the process of globalization since the late 1940s and early 1950s. It is an important practice for the international ocean order to shift to a path that focuses on cooperation, norms and unity. After persistent exploration and joint efforts of various countries, global ocean governance has gradually formed a multilateral order centered on the United Nations, consisting of international conventions, institutions, regional treaties and cooperation mechanisms such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), the Convention on the Conservation of Biological Diversity, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee, and the United Nations Ocean Conference.

These rules and systems have established norms and frameworks for international and regional ocean governance cooperation between sovereign states, enabling global ocean governance to achieve many significant progress and breakthroughs. However, with the accelerated evolution of the world's political and economic landscape, some new problems have also emerged in the field of marine strategy and faced many difficulties.

In the current global ocean governance system, three issues are more prominent:

First, global ocean governance is fragmented. This is mainly reflected in the two aspects of governance mechanisms and rules. Global and regional ocean governance mechanisms and institutions have sprung up since the 1950s, but some mechanisms and institutions have overlapping jurisdictions and governance blind spots.

A flock of migratory birds in Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao. Photo by Wang Haibin

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its subsidiary organization Committee on Fisheries (COFI), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and its Marine Meteorology and Oceanography Program (MMOP) and other institutions within the United Nations system have proposed their own ocean governance plans and projects.

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently at least 40 regional cooperation mechanisms involving ocean governance in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, covering various fields such as security, search and rescue, fisheries, environmental protection, economy, combating piracy and armed robbery at sea, and maritime affairs. Taking fishery governance as an example, there are more than eight regional cooperation mechanisms in the Indo-Pacific region, including the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization, the Asia-Pacific Fisheries Commission, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission, the South Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement, the China-Pacific Island Countries Fisheries Cooperation and Development Forum, and the Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Center.

Second, the ocean game is becoming more and more factional. Since the proposal of the "Asia-Pacific Rebalancing Strategy", the United States has issued a series of important strategic planning documents, adjusting and reshaping the regional ocean security strategy under the new global, "Asia-Pacific" and subsequent "Indo-Pacific" strategic frameworks. The practice of successive governments has made the "factionalization" trend of the US "Indo-Pacific" ocean security strategy gradually clear and bright, and its "like-minded" partners include its treaty allies and other countries with common interests and strategic fits.

Third, the intensification of ocean disputes. Globally, conflicts and disputes caused by countries over maritime delimitation, fishery resource development, island and reef territorial sovereignty, and the use of sea lanes are endless. According to rough statistics, there are still more than 200 maritime disputes in the world caused by factors such as sovereignty over island and reef territorial sovereignty, claims to maritime jurisdiction, and development of marine resources, involving at least 60 countries. Maritime disputes are often entangled with historical and national sentiments, major economic and security interests, and it is not easy to resolve disputes.

Net enclosure fishery in the Saronic Gulf of Greece. Photo by Milos Bicanski

At present, global ocean governance is still facing three difficulties:

First, the "countercurrent" of the globalization process has affected ocean governance. Some studies have shown that the process of globalization has slowed down significantly or even stagnated since 2007, and the international system has entered a "de-globalization" stage since 2009. Since the first half of 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the rejection and resistance of globalization by Western countries. The global ocean governance process has not only lost the blessing of the power of globalization, but also, like other fields, has been questioned and opposed by the international community. For example, taking the global governance of maritime safety as an example, studies have shown that the "anti-globalization" wave has significantly reduced the demands and willingness of countries to promote multilateral governance in areas such as piracy and waterway safety.

Second, unilateralism and protectionism have also begun to prevail in the field of ocean governance. As an important part of the post-World War II international order, global ocean governance has always been dominated and manipulated by the United States. As the leader of the international system, the United States has a decisive influence on the rule-setting, institutional creation, agenda setting and political process of global ocean governance. The United Kingdom, Japan, France, Australia and other countries also maintain their voice in global ocean governance under the support and protection of the United States. However, since 2017, in pursuit of the goal of "America First", the United States has promoted protectionism and unilateralism in many fields, including global ocean governance. At the same time, the United Kingdom and EU countries have also been impacted to varying degrees by populist/nationalist and "anti-globalist" thoughts.

The US Navy passed through the Strait of Hormuz. People's Vision

Third, the inherent defects and development lags of the global ocean rules and order are becoming increasingly apparent. Since the adoption and entry into force of the Convention, differences in the application and interpretation of the relevant contents of the Convention have become increasingly prominent. In the fields of biodiversity conservation, microplastic pollution control, and ocean acidification control, new international rules are urgently needed to fill the gaps and gaps in the system.

At present, global marine development is facing unprecedented challenges. The governance of various fields such as biodiversity degradation, fishery resource depletion, marine pollution, seawater acidification and temperature rise, sea level rise, and waterway safety is a long way to go. Maintaining and improving the multilateral global ocean governance system is a common issue faced by all countries in the world. How should countries in the world respond?

First, according to the importance and urgency, accelerate the pace and process of improving relevant rules of international ocean governance. The International Agreement on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), the Regulations on the Development of Resources in the International Seabed Area, and the International Cooperation Rules for the Management of Marine Plastic Waste can be used as key areas. Relying on important international mechanisms such as the United Nations Ocean Conference, we can keep pace with the times and revise and improve international ocean governance rules such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

On June 8, 2017, in New York, the United States, several giant garbage sculptures were unveiled in front of the United Nations headquarters building during the United Nations "Ocean Conference". These sculptures are all made of marine garbage collected from the sea. The picture shows a 10-foot (about 3-meter) high "seahorse". Photo by Volkan Furuncu

Second, protect the oceans on which mankind depends for survival and build a global blue partnership. Goal 14 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development proposes to protect and sustainably use the oceans and marine resources to promote sustainable development. The ocean will continue to be the main carrier of global economic growth in the 21st century. Countries around the world should work together to find a balance between "protection" and "development", avoid the "tragedy of the commons" in the global ocean, and improve the utilization rate and economic benefits of marine resources through marine scientific and technological innovation.

The "Ocean Ranch" coral conservation area in the Fenjiezhou Island Tourism Area in Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province. Photo by Luo Yunfei

Third, international, regional and national three-pronged approach to expand the supply of global ocean governance public products. In view of the current dilemma of "fragmentation" of regional and international ocean governance mechanisms, countries should take multilateralism as the principle and gradually integrate and improve regional and international ocean governance cooperation mechanisms through dialogue and consultation under the framework of the United Nations, so as to fill the blind spots and blind spots in the original governance mechanism network. Promote the establishment of coordinated linkage at the national, regional and international levels, avoid overlap, complement each other's strengths, and build a global ocean governance public product supply network.

Fourth, abandon the Cold War mentality and jointly promote global ocean security governance. At present, the global ocean security situation is not optimistic due to the superposition of non-traditional and traditional security challenges such as piracy, maritime disputes, and competition for sea power. We should jump out of the vicious circle of "zero-sum security" and "Cold War mentality" and establish a stable and long-term dialogue, consultation and cooperation mechanism around issues such as waterway safety maintenance, regional maritime dispute resolution and maritime security situation control with the concept of cooperation, commonness and equality.

Fifth, give full play to the special role of marine-related non-governmental organizations, think tanks and scientific research institutions in global ocean governance. For example, the World Environment Convention was initiated by the French top legal think tank "Club of Jurists", and the United Nations has passed a resolution to establish a basic framework for the draft convention. The international community should support marine non-governmental organizations, think tanks and scientific research institutions to play a role in providing scientific survey data, research suggestions, and cross-border and cross-departmental sharing of information for intergovernmental consultations and decision-making processes of government departments of various countries. (End)

Author Profile:

Wu Shicun, PhD in History, doctoral supervisor, researcher, Chairman of Huayang Ocean Research Center, Chairman of the Board of Directors of China-Southeast Asia South China Sea Research Center, Founding Dean of China South China Sea Research Institute, and Chair Professor of Xiamen University. As a visiting scholar, he went to the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, the Center for Asia-Pacific Security Studies of the United States, and the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University to study or further his studies. He has participated in the U.S. government's "Tracing the Origins of American Foreign Policy" and other training programs. From 1993 to 2000, he participated in the China-Vietnam Beibu Gulf demarcation negotiations as a member of the Chinese government delegation and expert group.

Wu Shicun has been committed to the study of the South China Sea issue for nearly 30 years. He has long been engaged in cross-disciplinary research on the history and geography of the South China Sea, maritime delimitation, international relations and regional security, and the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port. He has presided over more than 400 related projects. He has published more than 30 books in Chinese and foreign languages, and published more than 300 academic papers and commentary articles in Chinese and English on well-known media platforms outside China.

Plastic Industry Video