SCELG members submit written evidence to the UK Parliament International Relations and Defence Committee
Nov 2021 — In November 2021, the One Ocean Hub contributed written evidence to the UK Parliament International Relations and Defence Committee on ‘UNCLOS: Fit for Purpose in the 21st Century?’. SCELG members and Hub researchers Mara Ntona and Mitchell Lennan, along with SCELG member and Hub Director Prof Elisa Morgera and Dr Senia Febrica (also of Strathclyde University), recommended that the UK promote policy coherence in implementing UNCLOS in a mutually supportive manner with international environmental law and international human rights law across levels and arenas of decision-making regarding oceanic affairs.
Image by Joseph Barrientos on Unsplash
The written evidence underscored that the more systematic consideration of the inter-dependencies between human rights and marine biodiversity can offer the following benefits:
- help harness the capacity of nature- and human-rights based solutions to strengthen policy coherence, this being a prerequisite for effective ocean conservation and sustainable ocean-based development, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation;
- provide a platform for engaging the private sector, on the basis of business responsibility to respect human rights; and
- broaden alliances among environmental and human rights constituencies advocating for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity.
The full text of the written Evidence has been published in the UK Parliament International Relations and Defence Committee website.
Related items
- Learn more about SCELG’s work on human rights and oceans.
- Visit the One Ocean Hub website