chapter focuses on the institutional framework relating to the governance and
protection of the marine environment. It particularly aims to provide an overview
of these various actors, including their functions and mandate, and examine how
they interact with each other in striving to protect the marine environment.
This chapter will begin by identifying and classifying the multitude of organizations that operate in the sphere of marine environmental protection into three
categories. Next, the chapter will examine how these various institutions interact
(and in some instances overlap) with each other in carrying out their respective
mandates and functions. In particular, it seeks to observe how they coordinate their
activities and how they liaise with each other in carrying out their affairs more
effectively and efficiently. Pertinently, while the various organizations each have
their specific purposes and obligations, this chapter observes that they all share one
common sentiment, to wit, ensuring the effective protection of the marine environment. This chapter contends that this objective can be effectively advanced through
increased regime interaction and inter-organizational cooperation.
2 The Institutional Framework for Marine Environmental
Governance
The various actors that play a role in marine environmental governance can be
grouped into three categories. The first category comprises of organizations created
by UNCLOS, the second category consists of institutions that form part of the United
Nations ‘family’, while the third category includes actors that function and operate
within other regimes that are either connected or related to the marine environment
or concerned with it. This section illustrates these three categorizations further.
2.1 The UNCLOS Regime
The entry into force of UNCLOS in 1994 breathed life into three establishments: The
International Seabed Authority, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental
Shelf, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. While the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) undoubtedly contributes significantly to the
jurisprudence of the law of the sea and marine environmental protection, it is
excluded from the scope of this study on the premise that it is a judicial body that
is primarily concerned with dispute resolution and not a regulatory body or agency,
which is the main focus of this study. Scholarship on the influence of ITLOS as well
as other judicial bodies in furthering marine environmental protection can be found
elsewhere.
2
2 Boyle (2007) and Stephens (2009).
38
P. A. Singh
protection of the marine environment. It particularly aims to provide an overview
of these various actors, including their functions and mandate, and examine how
they interact with each other in striving to protect the marine environment.
This chapter will begin by identifying and classifying the multitude of organizations that operate in the sphere of marine environmental protection into three
categories. Next, the chapter will examine how these various institutions interact
(and in some instances overlap) with each other in carrying out their respective
mandates and functions. In particular, it seeks to observe how they coordinate their
activities and how they liaise with each other in carrying out their affairs more
effectively and efficiently. Pertinently, while the various organizations each have
their specific purposes and obligations, this chapter observes that they all share one
common sentiment, to wit, ensuring the effective protection of the marine environment. This chapter contends that this objective can be effectively advanced through
increased regime interaction and inter-organizational cooperation.
2 The Institutional Framework for Marine Environmental
Governance
The various actors that play a role in marine environmental governance can be
grouped into three categories. The first category comprises of organizations created
by UNCLOS, the second category consists of institutions that form part of the United
Nations ‘family’, while the third category includes actors that function and operate
within other regimes that are either connected or related to the marine environment
or concerned with it. This section illustrates these three categorizations further.
2.1 The UNCLOS Regime
The entry into force of UNCLOS in 1994 breathed life into three establishments: The
International Seabed Authority, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental
Shelf, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. While the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) undoubtedly contributes significantly to the
jurisprudence of the law of the sea and marine environmental protection, it is
excluded from the scope of this study on the premise that it is a judicial body that
is primarily concerned with dispute resolution and not a regulatory body or agency,
which is the main focus of this study. Scholarship on the influence of ITLOS as well
as other judicial bodies in furthering marine environmental protection can be found
elsewhere.
2
2 Boyle (2007) and Stephens (2009).
38
P. A. Singh