Abstract The triple planetary crisis poses a significant threat to the Arctic region, encompassing both marine areas within and beyond national jurisdiction. With the warming effect and the decrease in ice coverage, international shipping in Arctic waters is expected to increase. Due to the sensitivity of the fragile ecosystem, the increased shipping activities in Arctic waters will bring stressors to the marine environment. The international community has responded with laws and policies to regulate international shipping in the Arctic, aiming to prevent negative impacts on the marine environment and local communities. International shipping regulations are developed by States through the International Maritime Organization in the context of the law of the sea and general international law, which are supported by non-binding guidelines and policy recommendations, including those developed by the Arctic Council. With the recently adopted international agreement to conserve and manage marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, the landscape of Arctic shipping governance is expected to be further developed to better respond to the triple planetary crisis. This paper examines the interplay between legal development and international cooperation in the development of Arctic shipping regulations to mitigate adverse environmental impacts.

Navigation rights and freedoms remain the cornerstone of modern law of the sea and have been explored extensively by the International Journal Marine and Coastal Law over the past four decades. Two fundamental questions are addressed here, namely: Are navigation rights and freedoms at risk? Are there reasons for concern and, if so, what are they? The article also highlights their continued relevance and future maintenance as a critical part of the rules-based international system concerning one of the most vital uses of the ocean.

The introduction to this special issue of nineteen short articles, a result of a conference hosted at the World Maritime University (WMU) in October 2022 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration and London Convention. The conference was co-organised by the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under the title `Protecting the Ocean- Moving Forward at 50: London Convention and Stockholm Declaration'. The articles in this special issue contextualise these instruments and practice across international environmental law, the law of the sea, and maritime law that descends from them (Part 1); interrogate their allocation of liability and responsibility for protecting the marine environment (Part 2); consider their incorporation of plural sources of knowledge (Part 3); and highlight their instantiation of, and potential to change, relations of international political economy (Part 4).

The Stockholm Declaration and the London Convention/Protocol continue to shape multilateralism in marine environmental law. They guide international law-making and judicial processes including the recent International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and International Law . They also inspire the World Maritime University ( WMU )-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute and its work on areas beyond national jurisdiction, plastic pollution, gender equality for the Decade of Ocean Science, the World Ocean Assessment, sea level rise, capacity-building in the Eastern Caribbean, and the Future Ocean Programme.

The importance of collecting baseline gender disaggregated data is well acknowledged in science communities, including ocean science. However, the collection of gender disaggregated data is not always actioned or prioritized in organizations. This paper analyzes barriers to the collection of gender disaggregated data in the context of ocean science. The data analyzed in this paper relate to three research projects under the Programme called “Empowering Women in the United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development”. These projects collected secondary and primary data about gender equality from ocean-related intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as universities and research institutions in Kenya. To analyze barriers to the collection of gender-related data, researchers’ observations and reflections recorded in field notes and research diaries were used for analysis. To supplement the analysis, IGOs and IGOs’ narratives in their efforts to collect gender-disaggregated data were also analyzed, which highlights the importance of leadership and management to facilitate a systematic data collection about gender in ocean science communities. The paper concludes that a systematic approach to collect gender-related data can be facilitated by gender equality strategies and action plans which are the main deliverables of the Programme.

Peaceful Maritime Engagement in East Asia and the Pacific Region includes contributions from the most influential figures in the law of the sea to provide context and direction for developing maritime governance in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Peaceful management of disputes includes cooperation over deep seabed mining, negotiations for a legally binding instrument on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, contending approaches to baselines and East Asia maritime boundary disputes, freedom of navigation and maritime law enforcement. Chapters also explore new interpretations for preservation of the marine environment and the special problems posed by marine plastics and nexus between the ocean and climate change.

Central to the achievement of the transformational vision and ambitions of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade) is human behavioral change. Fundamentally, these changes must embrace equality, diversity, inclusivity, accountability, and transparency. The Ocean Decade offers an unprecedented opportunity to fast-track gender equality and the empowerment of women in ocean science at all levels, and to achieve it by 2030. This means embedding gender equality as a cross-cutting principle in the planning, implementation, and application of ocean science. The Programme on Empowering Women for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development directly addresses current gender inequality in both the production and use of ocean science knowledge in the Ocean Decade, with a particular focus on ocean governance systems that conduct, coordinate, and apply ocean science. The Programme aims to collect baseline data on gender balance, investigate barriers and challenges women face in career progression, and identify good practices to enhance women's participation in ocean science at all levels. Ultimately the research seeks to provide solutions to overcome such challenges and catalyze actions to achieve gender equality that will drive the Ocean Decade toward its goals.

The Authority is implementing a transformational agenda on gender empowerment that may well serve as an international benchmark for other multilateral, regional and national bodies concerned with deep-ocean science and the realisation of women's rights. This discussion outlines how the Authority is committed to working with the World Maritime University–Sasakawa Global Institute in an international research programme sponsored by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada that is aimed at focusing the spotlight on the empowerment of women scientists so that it becomes a central pillar of the UN Decade of Ocean Science. Such an approach accords fully with the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, thus adding fresh and badly-needed momentum towards the attainment of gender equality objectives in marine scientific research and ocean affairs.

Since the 1950s, there has been an increase of women participating in oceangoing science. However, the number of women scientists in the field remains significantly less than that of men, especially in senior roles. In this commentary, we take a feminist perspective to understand the challenges women face in pursuing a career in ocean-going science. Based on the limited literature and reports of women in ocean-going research, we identified several cultural and structural barriers and constraints faced by women. These fell into four main categories: (1) behavioral/social norms and gender-biased culture in science and at sea; (2) failure to provide for balancing duties of family care with extended periods away from home; (3) gender-insensitive design of ship facilities, operations, and personal protective equipment (PPE); and (4) the need for a safe working environment at sea; i.e., gender-related aspects of health, safety, and personal security at sea. To overcome these barriers, the following interventions are suggested: (1) greater awareness raising and training to shift destructive mindsets as well as affecting behavioral and cultural change; (2) consideration of gender-sensitive design and safe operation of research vessels; and (3) more comprehensive and effective implementation of gender equality policies for research at sea.

The chapter explores the law of the sea issues and ocean governance difficulties that must be overcome to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction of the Southeast Pacific. In this chapter, particular emphasis is placed on the work of the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific (CPSS). The chapter also evaluates state practice on law of the sea matters in the region to see if and how it can inform the development of new legal arrangements to protect the upwelling system of the Costa Rica Thermal Dome in the Central Eastern Tropical Pacific. The analysis concludes that without substantial reform the CPPS in its current form is unlikely to grow its membership or extend its legal mandate to ensure the protection of the latter oceanographic feature. Looking to the future, however, the draft BBNJ Agreement has the potential to herald in a new era of marine biodiversity conservation in areas beyond national jurisdiction of the entire Pacific Basin and therefore ought to be ratified and implemented by all Latin American States.

This article analyses three different cases of assisted marine restoration in Europe to understand how governance and legal aspects enable or constrain marine restoration in practice. The aim of this article is to enhance understanding of the enabling and constraining conditions of the governance of marine ecological restoration. To understand the governance of marine restoration, we use the concepts of governance arrangement and institutionalization. A marine restoration governance arrangement consists of different coalitions of public and private actors, who—through their different ways of conceptualizing and understanding the problem (discourses)—try to influence and design the marine restoration activities and initiatives, the managing of often shared, limited resources, and defining rules of the game (on different levels). Institutionalization refers to the production and reproduction of governance arrangements. This article gives insight in the governance arrangements of three cases: artificial habitat as in the Rigs‐to‐Reefs debate, in the context of North Sea oil and gas decommissioning, and restoration of key sedimentary and hard natural habitats of the fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) and red coral (Corallium rubrum) cases in the Mediterranean. The analysis shows how discourses shape the arrangements that currently govern the decommissioning of obsolete oil and gas structures in the North Sea, and the protection and management of two emblematic and endangered species in the Mediterranean. Based on the analysis we formulated enabling and constraining conditions for the institutionalization of “active restoration” governance arrangements, resulting in recommendations for how to strengthen restoration in policies and legislation.

Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) identifies the major issues at stake in the BBNJ negotiations and examines the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. This timely volume offers cutting edge contributions from leading global experts on access and benefit sharing of marine genetic resources; environmental impact assessments; capacity building and transfer of technology as well as Arctic environmental issues including security and shipping. Cross-cutting themes including the potential impact on existing legal frameworks and instruments are also explored.

Many developing countries do not have adequate scientific capability to benefit from the sustainable development of the ocean or to implement their international legal obligations under the Convention and related instruments. In light of this shortcoming, the chapter seeks to address fundamental questions pertaining to the adoption of new normative obligations in the bbnj Agreement on education and training in marine scientific research (msr), including the codification of gender-sensitive norms. The chapter concludes that the Agreement has the potential to be a game-changer on capacity-building if it results in the following: the establishment of a robust institutional setting for decision-making supported by the proposed clearing-house mechanism; codifies the requirements of undertaking a regular ‘needs assessment’; provides a solid legal plinth for gender equality and the empowerment of women scientists; and most importantly of all establishes a mandatory and sustainable funding stream for capacity-building. Furthermore, the negotiators should bring about transformational change in the law of the sea by addressing these issues directly at the final session of the intergovernmental conference.

Cooperation and Engagement in the Asia-Pacific Region brings together contributions from leading experts around the world in the law of the sea. The volume addresses topics such as regional cooperation, protection and preservation of the marine environment, freedom of navigation, sustainable fisheries, and future cooperation within the important Asia-Pacific region. This book provides valuable insight into a region that encompasses many important maritime regions, and harbors promising opportunities for maritime cooperation and engagement.