Abstract
The Mediterranean region is a laboratory for international environmental law. As a biodiversity hotspot, it contains all of the familiar challenges of global environmental governance and it stands at the forefront of international legal cooperation, with initiatives such as the Mediterranean Action Plan and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. Nowadays, the Mediterranean region’s environmental agreements exist within a dense network of international institutions and conventions that shape their implementation and evolution. The purpose of this chapter will be to discuss the influence that the CBD has exerted, and still exerts, on the dynamics of international environmental law in the region.
The chapter will highlight that the formal legal influence of the CBD in the region is weak. The CBD does not directly address Mediterranean issues and it is unlikely to exert influence through the principle of systemic integration. However, it has influenced international environmental law in the region through norm diffusion. This trend is likely to continue in the post-2020 framework, thus fostering greater coherence in international biodiversity law.
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Notes
- 1.
One could mention non-adversarial compliance mechanisms, which were first established in the context of multilateral environmental agreements.
- 2.
In this chapter, the word “regime” refers to the principles, rules, norms and procedures around which actors’ expectations converge in a given field of international relations (Krasner 1983). This definition from international relations is used in order to broaden the scope of analysis. In this chapter, any reference to an agreement as a regime will imply that the different norms subsequently adopted for its implementation will be taken into consideration. Moreover, the actors in a regime will not only be the states, but also the numerous non-state actors, that contribute to maintaining the regime.
- 3.
Most of the articles of the convention start with the following wording: “Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate … .”.
- 4.
The notion of influence does not have a specific definition in law, political science or international relations. In the context of this chapter, the term is to be understood in its most general sense, i.e. “the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways” (Merriam – Webster).
- 5.
The complete list of protocols is available on the MAP website at https://www.unenvironment.org/unepmap/who-we-are/barcelona-convention-and-protocols (last accessed on 1 October 2020).
- 6.
“A treaty shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose” (emphasis added).
- 7.
See article V CMS - Guidelines for AGREEMENTS.
- 8.
By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape.
- 9.
Article 21.1: “any existing international agreement relating to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity may be renegotiated as protocols to the present Convention”.
- 10.
Some framework conventions can specify this condition, but in the absence of such precision in the framework convention or its protocol, there is no general principle limiting access to a protocol only to states that are parties to the framework convention (despite some commentators arguing otherwise—Matz-Lück 2009). For instance, in the Mediterranean region, Turkey is not a party to the CMS and has nevertheless ratified ACCOBAMS. In contrast, article 29.1 of the Barcelona Convention specifies that
No one may become a Contracting Party to this Convention unless it becomes at the same time a Contracting Party to at least one of the protocols. No one may become a Contracting Party to a protocol unless it is, or becomes at the same time, a Contracting Party to this Convention.
- 11.
This was the case with the rules on impact assessments (ICJ 2010).
- 12.
For instance, the subsidies for environmentally harmful activities such a fossil fuels extraction and use have been rising in the past years despite calls for their reduction (IPBES 2019).
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Futhazar, G. (2021). The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Mediterranean Sea: A Beacon for International Environmental Governance in the Region?. In: Campins Eritja, M., Fajardo del Castillo, T. (eds) Biological Diversity and International Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72961-5_11
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