Elsevier

Marine Policy

Volume 81, July 2017, Pages 1-8
Marine Policy

The role of NGOs in negotiating the use of biodiversity in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2017.03.004Get rights and content

Abstract

In 2004, the UN General Assembly resolved to establish a working group to consider issues pertaining to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The group met nine times between 2006 and 2015 before concluding its mandate by recommending the development of an international legally binding instrument on BBNJ under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Based on in-depth interviews with working group participants, this research examines how NGOs contributed to the working group process. Respondents from government delegations highlighted the usefulness of workshops and side events convened by NGOs, and the role of NGOs in bringing experts on technical issues – particularly marine genetic resources and the sharing of benefits – into the BBNJ negotiations. Respondents from both NGOs and government delegations emphasized the importance of fostering personal relationships in order to ensure a steady and constructive information flow. Social media efforts by NGOs were considered by some government representatives to have occasionally hampered open discussion, although they noted that conditions have improved. The lengthy working group process was marked by substantial fluctuation in participation, particularly within government delegations from developing states. Of 1523 individuals who participated in at least one of the working group meetings, only 45 attended more than half of the meetings, and 80% of these were representing NGOs or highly industrialized countries. Respondents felt that this comparatively small number of individuals provided a source of continuity that was crucial for moving the discussions forward.

Introduction

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become a ubiquitous presence in policy-making and action from the local to the international level on issues as diverse as promoting human rights, banning land mines and fostering nature conservation. The origin of the term itself can be traced back to the formation of the United Nations, and its founding charter, which specifies that “the Economic and Social Council may take suitable arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations” [33]. While the definition of what constitutes an NGO differs depending on context and setting, in its most fundamental sense, an NGO must be free of direct government control [37].

Pinpointing when environmental NGOs became significant players within the international community is challenging, but some have pointed to the run-up to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972 [3], [11]. An informal group of NGOs, experts and policy-makers joined together in mid-1971 to draft what became known as the Founex Report on Environment and Development, which subsequently contributed to the framing of the conference and its outcomes, and to this meeting now being considered the first instance of regional cooperation on environmental issues [11], [27]. The intervening years have seen a huge growth not only in the number of NGOs participating and having access to international negotiations and policy processes [4], [25] but that also have the capacities to contribute to the steering of such political processes [5]. The number of NGOs that have successfully obtained consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), for instance, has increased by more than 500% over the past 30 years (from 712 in 1984 to 4045 in 2014) [37].

NGOs are active in a multitude of policy landscapes, and employ a diverse range of strategies to contribute to international processes, albeit with varying levels of success. For instance, a crucial role has been attributed to NGOs in building political consensus enabling an international ban on the use of land mines [28] and a global framework for forest management and the trading of timber [19], but decades of NGO efforts to reshape the World Bank's approach to development were considered unsuccessful [26]. The multitude of strategies used by NGOs to contribute to international policy processes includes directly participating in international forums and meetings, providing information and expertise, advocating their views through coalitions or direct and indirect lobbying as well as using the media to mobilize public opinion [15], [21], [32]. All of these strategies have the potential to contribute to the direction and content of international negotiations, and great scholarly interest therefore exists in identifying how and when such strategies are successful [8], [31], [32]. In recent years, NGOs have been heavily involved in shaping the global development agenda, perhaps most notably in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [20]. Nevertheless, conceptualizing NGO influence, or drawing one-to-one correlations between NGO actions and negotiation outcomes, remains notoriously difficult [10].

This paper explores perceptions of how NGOs are contributing to the outcomes of the working group mandated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to look into issues related to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Working Group). After detailing the history and context of the BBNJ negotiations, a two-part methodology is introduced, which draws on a set of semi-structured interviews with individuals who participated in the BBNJ Working Group as representatives of governments or NGOs, and an assessment of participant lists from the nine meetings of the BBNJ Working Group between 2006 and 2015. Only NGOs with consultative status approved by ECOSOC were eligible to independently register their participation in the BBNJ Working Group, so use of the term “NGOs” throughout the remainder of this paper specifically refers to such organizations with at least one representative attending at least one of the BBNJ Working Group meetings.1

Section snippets

Identifying gaps in the legal framework for managing marine areas beyond national jurisdiction

A crucial element within the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 was the formalization of maritime zones for the seabed and water column. Under UNCLOS, the seabed beyond national jurisdiction is known as ‘the Area’. Exclusive economic zones (EEZs) form a 200-nautical mile swath extending from coastlines, within which each respective country has sovereign rights and obligations, including on the management and use of natural resources. Marine areas beyond national

Selecting interview partners

To gather firsthand accounts and reflections on the BBNJ Working Group process, interviews were conducted with 19 individuals, who attended meetings of the BBNJ Working Group as members of government delegations, representatives of NGOs, or academic experts. The availability of interview participants varied considerably for two primary reasons. First, the contact information of most academics and NGO representatives was available on public websites, while the opposite was true for government

Results and discussion

Some distinct differences exist among NGOs and governments with regard to the contribution of NGOs to the BBNJ Working Group process. Even prior to conducting the interviews, a review of previous literature pointed to three observations: (1) it would be challenging to track how the specific efforts of NGOs have contributed to this process [10], [31]; (2) NGOs would likely tend to see their role in a favorable and constructive light [1]; (3) governments would be unlikely to attribute the shaping

Conclusion

“I think you’ve always got the end goal, but you get kicked about by reality. As governments decide where they are going to go, you have to adapt.” (NGO representative 3)

The interviews suggest that the fostering of personal relations and the building of coalitions were among the most successful strategies for NGOs to contribute to the BBNJ Working Group process. However, the contribution of NGOs with regard to the provisioning of information – through side events, publications, and expert input

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to express their deep appreciation to all of the interview respondents who made this research possible by sharing their time and reflections on the BBNJ Working Group process. Advice and guidance by Henrik Österblom, Sebastian Unger and other colleagues was very valuable in shaping this research. We are also grateful for the particularly swift and constructive peer review process. This research was supported, in part, by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI

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