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A Voice for the Fish? Climate Change Litigation and Potential Causes of Action for Impacts Under the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

A Voice for the Fish? Climate Change Litigation and Potential Causes of Action for Impacts Under the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

Full Title: A Voice for the Fish? Climate Change Litigation and Potential Causes of Action for Impacts Under the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement
Author(s): William C.G. Burns
Publisher(s): N/A
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

Climate change litigation has been transformed from a  creative lawyering strategy to a major force in transnational  regulatory governance of greenhouse gas emissions over the  last couple of years. Several actions related to climate  change have been initiated in national courts and regulatory agencies in several countries, as well as two actions in international fora: the Inter-American Commission on  Human Rights and the World Heritage Committee.

This article examines another potential international  forum in which the threat of climate change might be  addressed: The Agreement for the Implementation of the  Provisions of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea 10 Dec. 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of  Straddling Fish Stocks and High Migratory Fish Stocks  (UNFSA).  Actions under UNFSA could be salutary for  several reasons.  First, the commercial fisheries sector may be  profoundly and adversely affected by climate change. This  includes many fish stocks regulated under UNFSA: highly  migratory species, which have wide geographic distribution  and undertake significant migrations, and straddling stocks, which occur both within and beyond Exclusive Economic  Zones (EEZs). Overall, “[m]igratory and straddling species  account for roughly 20 percent of the total marine catch and  include some of the most economically valuable fish  populations.”

Second, the United States, one of the world’s largest  emitters of greenhouse gases and a State with an abject  record in addressing climate change, was one of the first  nations to ratify UNFSA, and has played an active  leadership role in its implementation. UNFSA thus  presents an excellent forum in which to engage the United  States and other major greenhouse gas emitters, including  the European Union and China, on climate issues.  Finally, unlike the other international fora where climate change  actions have been pursued to date, UNFSA provides a dispute  resolution mechanism with teeth.

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