The OSPAR NEAFC Collective Arrangement and Ocean Governance: Regional Seas Organisations as the Setters of Conservation Standards in ABNJ?

• Published in: The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
• Main Author: Hey, Ellen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 2022
• Subjects: Law; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; General Environmental Science; Geography, Planning and Development; Oceanography; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15718085-bja10101; https://brill.com/view/journals/estu/37/4/article-p610_2.xml; https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/estu/37/4/article-p610_2.xml

Abstract The Collective Arrangement, subscribed to by OSPAR and NEAFC and presented as a model by these organisations, suggests that regional seas organisations, such as OSPAR , are to act as standard setters for the conservation of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction ( ABNJ ). The model suggests that regional seas organisations and other organisations, such as NEAFC , the IMO and the ISA , then are to regulate human activities for which they are competent within these conservation standards. This article explores whether the Collective Arrangement might indeed function as a model for ocean governance in ABNJ and merits encouragement in a future BBNJ agreement. It concludes that the Collective Arrangement, as a model, raises both opportunities and challenges but that it might not be transplantable to other areas beyond national jurisdiction, given that the elements that characterise cooperation in the North-East Atlantic are not present in most other areas in ABNJ .