SCELG at the UN Ocean Conference

Elisa Morgera and Daniela Diz organise side-event on the SDGs and the blue economy

June 2017: Professor Elisa Morgera and Dr. Daniela Diz of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law & Governance (SCELG) attended the UN Ocean Conference in New York from 5-9 June 2017, and organized a side-event entitled “Sustainable Development Goals and the blue economy: Investing in Marine Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation.” The side-event was hosted by the Permanent Mission of Eritrea to the United Nations, in partnership with the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme, the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI), the UK Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), and Marine Scotland. The side event discussed blue economy concepts and investment in natural capital in the context of SDG 14, as well as relevant findings from fisheries-related ESPA projects, including the Marine Benefits project and its upcoming Marine Policy special issue exploring synergies among ecosystem services, poverty alleviation, the ecosystem approach to fisheries, and the SDGs. 

Multiple dimensions of poverty relevant to multiple SDGs

This side event demonstrated the complex nature of poverty alleviation, especially in light of a changing climate, and how the ecosystem services framework can help identify appropriate conservation and management measures, as well as beneficiaries and the most vulnerable in society, and inform decision-making processes and trade-offs in the context of an ecosystem approach, and how the multiple dimensions of poverty relevant to multiple SDGs have been addressed by ESPA fisheries-related projects.  It also shed light on how the ecosystem services framework can bridge biodiversity law and human rights. 

Research-Led Teaching

Prof Morgera and Dr Diz are the Co-Directors of the LLM in Law of the Sea, Sustainable Development and International Law.