Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
6. ULUSAL KUTUP BİLİMLERİ ÇALIŞTAYI, Trabzon, Türkiye, 30 Kasım - 01 Aralık 2022, ss.1-2
The European Union (EU) strives to set an agenda on
ocean governance, considering that the world's oceans are under significant
threat and pressure. The ‘North Pole Arctic Ocean' is an essential element of
the agenda that the EU is working on. It is stated that there is a significant
deterioration in the Arctic Ocean as a result of both climate change and human
activities. The EU mentions the need for a new governance system to prevent the
Arctic Ocean's deterioration. In the current legal framework, it is claimed
that the management of high areas beyond the national jurisdictions, such as
the Arctic Ocean, cannot be carried out adequately, and a new governance model
is needed to effectively protect the ocean against the harmful effects of
climate change and increasing human activities. The new governance model is
considered necessary for biodiversity protection, especially in the Arctic
Ocean. The EU considers the preservation of biodiversity and marine ecosystems
in the Arctic Ocean a global problem. While the EU expresses its loyalty to
multilateral environmental agreements such as the Convention on Biological
Diversity regarding the global protection of the Arctic Ocean, it attaches
particular importance to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS). The EU demands full respect for the provisions of this convention
regulating the protection of the marine environment. In this context, the EU
aims to benefit from the legal framework provided by the convention and to
develop new methods for the preservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity in areas beyond the national maritime jurisdictions for the Arctic
Ocean. Initially, the EU wants to establish the marine protected areas beyond
the national marine jurisdiction areas as 'marine protected areas network’ for
the protection of biodiversity in the Arctic Ocean. Through the network of
marine protected areas in the Arctic Ocean, the EU states that the target of
protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030 would also be achieved. In addition, the
EU is a party to the Agreement To Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in
the Central Arctic Ocean which is described as a success story and it is asserted
that the agreement provides significant benefits for the preservation and
sustainable use of Arctic sea living resources. In this study, the EU’s new
governance model, which includes elements such as establishing a network of
marine protected areas beyond the national maritime jurisdiction areas to
protect the Arctic Ocean, will be comprehensively examined with current
developments.