Ocean governance in an era of climate change

Abstract

The climate-ocean nexus has been subject to increasing scientific attention for decades. The corresponding political-legal debate to respond to the needs of ocean governance in an era of climate change is still in an embryonic phase however, as the International community struggles to grapple with the complexity of these scientific reports and their recommendations calling for an urgent need to take cross cutting preventive and remedial measures. This chapter examines the applicable legal framework and suggests how to address legal gaps to minimize the negative impacts climate change has upon the ocean, its resources and its uses. The transfer of complex and voluminous scientific knowledge into legal and policy actions is crucial to harness, mitigate and, as far as possible, remedy in an integrated manner, climate change impacts upon the ocean. An effective legal regime for ocean governance in an era of climate change, must also entail fair and equitable legal options for adaptation to negative impacts.