Catherine Redgwell

'Chaos or Coherence? Reconciling Multiple Ocean Uses' Catherine Redgwell

This paper argues that the reality is somewhere on a continuum from chaos to coherence. As competing uses of the oceans have grown so too have our tools for accommodation (MSP an obvious example, as is the development of principles such as due regard). At the same time there has been a proliferation of bodies and institutions which has led to problems of overlap, gaps, and coordination (e.g. BBNJ). And some competing uses cannot be 'reconciled' or 'accommodated' so the tools employed are rather ones of prioritisation or prohibition. And of course one can't speak of coherence without mentioning UNCLOS, our 'constitution for oceans', and the harmonising effect of common obligations/principles regardless of activity.

A further piece of the puzzle will be the role of courts and tribunals either in addressing 'chaos' and in promoting coherence through e.g. evolutive interpretation (eg 2015 Fisheries Advisory Opinion) - or their failure to do so.

Catherine Redgwell

Catherine Redgwell is the Chichele Professor of Public International Law in the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College; co-director of the Oxford Martin Programmes on Sustainable Oceans, and the Future of Plastics; joint general editor of the British Year Book of International Law; and co-editor of the Oxford Monographs in International Law (OUP).

Catherine has published extensively in public international law, particularly in the areas of

international environmental law, law of the sea, treaty law, and international energy law. She

is co-author with Alan Boyle of International Law of the Environment (OUP, 4

edn,

forthcoming 2021).