Hart, Sharelle

This publication examines the characteristics of successful transboundary resource management. Various cases of different shared resources, from water to fish to air, are described and their strengths and weaknesses analysed.Successful management of transboundary resources is growing in relevance as resources become sparse and conflicts over them increase. However, many of its elements have not yet been sufficiently defined and applied.

Marine resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) are under increasing pressure from human impacts, putting at risk biodiversity, ecosystem processes and function. There is a heightened focus on whether current arrangements and policies are adequate. This paper explores possible elements of a new instrument to protect such biodiversity – an Implementation Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The second paper in this marine series builds on the complementary study described in Marine Series No. 1 that identified several significant regulatory and governance gaps in the international regime for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).

Sixty-four percent of the world ocean lies in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The first paper in this four-part series was prepared to address the question of whether there is a regulatory or governance gap in the international regime for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and, if so, how it should be addressed. The study reveals that important regulatory and governance gaps still exist.