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
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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.