Ocean Governance in the 21st Century: A ‘New Package-Deal’
65 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2022 Last revised: 9 Jan 2024
Date Written: August 1, 2021
Abstract
This Article demonstrates how technological innovation and climate change, specifically the introduction of unmanned vessels, artificial islands, and rising sea levels, undermine the balance between exclusive and inclusive rights under current ocean governance, thus triggering a process of regime evolution. Through the application of policy-oriented jurisprudence, this Article proposes to shift ocean governance from its outdated reliance upon the natural land as a source of rights and obligations to a more nuanced approach that facilitates a more optimal global order. First, having demonstrated that the natural land is no longer a stable and predictable source of title, this Article proposes that the “Land Dominates the Sea” principle should evolve to a model premised on an alternate conceptualization: “Population Dominates the Sea.” This proposal challenges the foundation of the law of the sea and suggests that legal responses to artificial islands and submerging land should be treated together to facilitate a compromise solution detached from the outdated reliance on natural land. Second, this Article argues that the exclusive economic zone should evolve from a regime of enumerated rights in the spatial area to include rights to the spatial area in order to augment environmental protection and national security while promoting the benefits of unmanned vessels. While there are many possible arrangements that may be pursued by the participants involved, the changes to the law of the sea must balance their goals and interests in a “new package-deal.”
Keywords: International Law; Law of the Sea; Climate Change; Law and Technology; Unmanned Ships; Rising Sea Level; Policy Oriented Jurisprudance; Global Governance
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