Comparative review of marine mammal guidance implemented during naval exercises

This article reviews the types and effectiveness of marine mammal mitigation measures used during some naval activities worldwide. The three main standard methods used to mitigate the potential impacts of naval sonar sound on marine mammals are (1) time/area planning (of exercises/active sonar use) to avoid marine mammals; (2) implementation of operational procedures (e.g. ‘soft start’ - where sound levels are gradually increased over time); and (3) monitoring of animals for the purpose of maintaining an ‘exclusion zone’ around the sound source. Suggestions towards a minimum worldwide mitigation standard are made.     

湿润指数与干操度关系的探讨

为使我国气候区划标准与国际气侯区划标准接轨, 从其定义出发, 将《国际防治荒漠化公约》中采用湿润指数划分气候区与我国传统的干燥反气候区划作比较认为: 湿润指数气候区划与干燥度气候区划在理论上有相关性, 其相关系数为: 当≥4时, 湿润指数为0.8/K, 当4>K≥1.5时, 湿润指数为0.75/K, 当K<1.5时, 湿润指数为0.65/K.在实际应用中, 湿润指数气候区划与干燥度气侯区划相比较, 我国湿润区面积有所扩大, 极干旱气候区域有所北移。     

大陆架界限委员会审议划界案的原则和方法——委员会建议摘要案例分析

由于全球大陆边缘地貌和地质特征的复杂性,且《联合国海洋法公约》(以下简称《公约》)第76条对200海里以外大陆架外部界限划定的规则存在一定的模糊性,导致大陆架外部界限的划定极其复杂。根据《公约》设立的大陆架界限委员会(以下简称委员会)负责审议沿海国提交的划界案并给出建议,委员会在外大陆架划界方面发挥重要作用。截止2012年12月底,委员会一共收到沿海国65份划界案,目前已完成其中18份划界案的审议工作并给出了建议。本文系统分析了各委员会建议摘要,对委员会在审议划界案时采用的划界原则、审议的关键技术问题等做了综合分析总结,以便为我国今后外大陆架划界和积极应对侵害我国海洋权益的他国划界主张提供参考和借鉴。     

Financial caps for oil pollution damage: A historical mistake?

The limitation of liability (known as financial caps) of the ship owner has a long tradition in maritime law in general and in the marine oil pollution compensation regime in particular. This paper uses the economic instrument to critically analyze such a mechanism, in order to answer the question if the financial caps are indeed a historical mistake.     

What determines the institutional performance of environmental regimes?: A case study of the Mediterranean Action Plan

Although there is fierce debate about how best to evaluate the effectiveness of international regimes, most writers regard institutional effectiveness as the best measure. This article examines the institutional effectiveness of one regime—the Barcelona Convention (or the Mediterranean Action Plan)—where there are sharply contrasting views of its institutional effectiveness. The study finds that the regime was indeed successful when created, but its contemporary institutional performance is inadequate. The article demonstrates that there is no simple answer as to whether a regime is effective; instead, in most cases it depends on the specific criteria each approach employs.     

《极地水域船舶作业国际规则》的法律属性析论

《极地水域船舶作业国际规则》(简称《极地规则》)是国际海事组织为极地水域船舶航行安全与防止环境污染制定的技术性国际规则。该规则的体系构成是以MARPOL、SOLAS和STCW三大公约修正案为基础,因此使其对缔约国具有强制约束力,并沿袭了技术性、前瞻性等属性。从普适性角度衡量,该规则因为制定主体、立法结构与实际履约等问题尚不足以构成“一般接受的国际规则和标准”。我国应当吸取其中的先进立法理念,并积极加强国内履约,为即将到来的北极航运高峰做准备。此外,鉴于《极地规则》与《联合国海洋法公约》(简称《公约》)的冰封区域条款之间相对独立,我国在遵守沿海国单边立法的同时应积极倡导在极地地区适用以《极地规则》为核心的统一标准。我国对北极航道的使用呈逐年增加的趋势,这势必要求厘清《极地规则》的法律属性以维护我国的北极航运利益。     

自然资源和生态系统管理的生态系统方法：概念、原则与应用

“生态系统方法（ Ecosystem Approach ，EA）”不是一种具体的生态系统管理方法，而是一种综合各种方法来解决复杂的社会、经济和生态问题的生态系统管理策略。它提供了一个将多学科的理论与方法应用到具体管理实践的科学和政策框架。回顾了生态系统方法的产生及其概念的发展和演变，揭示了生态系统方法与生态系统管理之间的联系，介绍了生态系统方法在自然资源管理和流域综合管理方面的应用，可为我国的自然资源管理和生态系统管理提供参考。     

A hard instrument goes soft: The implications of the Convention on Biological Diversity's current trajectory

The relentless loss of biological diversity, which will have a direct impact on human society and degrade ecosystem buffers against the extremes of climate perturbation, requires a strong global governance response. Of the numerous international legal instruments relating to the protection of nature, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the most comprehensive. This paper examines its current emphasis on global biodiversity targets to extend our understanding of its trajectory, and its evolving nature as an instrument of global governance. We review CBD documents, and early examinations of its emergent character, in the context of the distinction between hard and soft law approaches, and combine analysis on the issue of targets from the literature on development, climate change and conservation biology. We emphasise that the CBD, created as a hard law instrument with a framework character, had the clear facility to develop subsidiary hard law instruments in the form of protocols but has not significantly followed this route. We document how its approach - which has been typically ‘soft’, as exemplified by its focus on global biodiversity targets which are not backed up by obligations - suggests it operates de facto as policy rather than an instrument requiring state action. The adoption of global targets has parallels with other initiatives within global governance and may influence international political agendas, but they have failed to provide practical instruments for national implementation. Conditions may now exist for the CBD to develop focussed hard legal instruments in specific areas of its wide remit that support realistic targets.     

《国际水道非航行使用法公约》被认可的区域差异性

《国际水道非航行使用法公约》是第一个生效、旨在实现跨境水资源公平合理利用的全球公约,但《公约》原则与条款争议造成缔约国数量有限,综合影响力受到削减。利用《全球跨境流域》、《国际淡水条约数据库》、《世界环境协定》等数据库信息等,确定《公约》缔约国的国际河流地理位置,结合各缔约国水资源及利用现状、跨境水资源分布及区域合作开发状况、《公约》原则和争议条款等,分析、判断缔约国的区域及目标差异特征,结果表明：① 缔约国仅分布于欧洲、亚洲和非洲3个地区36国家,《公约》被认可程度低、影响力有限;② 《公约》在平衡上下游权利与义务中对下游国谋求水开发利益更为有利,下游国缔约意愿更强、对其认可度最高;《公约》对中游、边界及上下游均衡及支流地区的流域国有制衡作用,影响着流域国的缔约愿意;③ 缺水状况和位居下游、国际河流地位重要及对跨境水资源的依赖驱使相关国家不断寻求增强对跨境水资源管控能力的途径,缔结《公约》成为一项重要选择;④ 区域性水法的发展与实践是流域国缔结《公约》的基础,绝大多数国家的缔约意愿多源于对水资源合作开发实践,而流域下游及中游国家则源于跨境水资源合作机制建设和水资源合作开发两个方面的经验。     

Assessing the performance of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in Brazil: a test using two regional-scale indices related to coastal and marine ecosystem conservation

One of the main challenges of international environmental agreements is improving relevant policy actions to promote adequate environmental responses. To support the work of decision makers, recent studies have used environmental and social indicators to construct global and regional-scale indices. This study aimed to use the Ocean Health Index and the Management Ranking for Brazilian States to assess Brazil’s performance regarding the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ABTs) for coastal and marine ecosystems. Thus, six ABTs were matched and their performance was evaluated. These ABTs focused on the following topics: pollution, fish and invertebrate stocks, pressures on coral, threatened species and their conservation, the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks and the national biodiversity strategy and action plan. However, although the indices used showed many pathways to explore how Brazil is performing, it is still complex to evaluate ABTs’ performance regarding coastal and marine ecosystems at a global and regional scale.