Environmental Politics Ocean Governance Questions Long
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that establishes a comprehensive legal framework for the governance and use of the world's oceans and their resources. It was adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994. The key principles of UNCLOS can be summarized as follows:
1. Territorial sovereignty: UNCLOS recognizes the sovereignty of coastal states over their territorial sea, which extends up to 12 nautical miles from their baselines. Within this zone, coastal states have full sovereignty and jurisdiction, including the right to regulate and exploit resources.
2. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): UNCLOS establishes the concept of the EEZ, which extends up to 200 nautical miles from the baselines of coastal states. Within this zone, coastal states have sovereign rights over the exploration and exploitation of natural resources, both living and non-living, in the water column, on the seabed, and beneath its subsoil.
3. Freedom of navigation: UNCLOS guarantees the freedom of navigation for all states, both coastal and landlocked. Ships of all states, including military vessels, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea of coastal states, subject to certain conditions. UNCLOS also ensures the right of transit passage through international straits used for international navigation.
4. Protection and preservation of the marine environment: UNCLOS recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving the marine environment. It establishes obligations for states to prevent, reduce, and control pollution from various sources, including land-based activities, vessels, and dumping. It also promotes the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources.
5. International cooperation: UNCLOS emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in the management and conservation of the oceans. It encourages states to cooperate at the regional and global levels to address common challenges, such as pollution, overfishing, and the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems. UNCLOS also establishes mechanisms for dispute settlement, including the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
6. Benefit sharing: UNCLOS promotes the equitable sharing of benefits derived from the utilization of marine resources. It recognizes the rights and interests of both coastal states and the international community as a whole in the exploitation of resources, particularly in the EEZ and on the continental shelf.
7. Landlocked and geographically disadvantaged states: UNCLOS recognizes the special circumstances and needs of landlocked and geographically disadvantaged states. It provides for their access to and transit through the territorial sea and EEZ of coastal states, as well as their participation in the benefits derived from the utilization of resources.
These key principles of UNCLOS aim to strike a balance between the rights and interests of coastal states and the international community, ensuring the sustainable and equitable use of the world's oceans and their resources. By providing a comprehensive legal framework, UNCLOS contributes to the promotion of peace, stability, and cooperation in ocean governance.