Wednesday, 29th June, 2022

DAILY ANALYST
Wednesday, 29th June, 2022 Page 5
Highlighting the probable drawbacks
for proper implementation of Ocean
Governance Policy in Ghana
Human populations
have
heavily relied
on the oceans
for food supply,
transportation, security, oil
and gas resources, and many
other explored and unexplored
reasons.
The growing prospects
of the oceans, such as access
to marine genetic resources
and seabed minerals, generating
renewable energy, are
contributing to increased
interests to control and
exploit the seas. Oceans and
coastal areas are essential
component of the Earth’s
ecosystem.
They contribute to approximately
two-thirds of
the earth’s surface and contain
97% of the planet’s water.
Over three billion people depend
on marine and coastal
resources for their livelihoods,
thereby, contributing
to poverty eradication. In
addition, oceans are crucial
for global food security and
human health.
They are also the primary
regulator of the global climate,
an important sink for
greenhouse gases and they
provide us with water and
the oxygen we breathe. According
to data, the Organization
for Economic Cooperation
and Development
(OECD) projects that oceanbased
industries contribute
about €1.3 trillion to global
gross value added.
Furthermore, as oceans
host huge reservoirs of
biodiversity, the Proposal of
the Open Working Group on
Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) submitted to
the United Nations General
Assembly in August 2014, SDG
14 aims to “Conserve and sustainable
use the oceans, seas
and marine resources for sustainable
development” due to
its immense contributions to
human and ecological safety.
Primarily, SDGs are accompanied
by targets that
are often elaborated through
indicators focused on measurable
outcomes. They are
action oriented, global in
nature and universally applicable.
They take into account
different national realities,
capacities and levels of development
and respect national
policies and priorities. They
build on the foundation laid
by the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). These
ment agreement and the
2002 World Summit on
Sustainable Development
encourages states to develop
and implement integrated
ocean and coastal policy approaches.
However, in Ghana,
ad hoc, disjointed management
regimes have resulted
in unsavory compliance and
outcomes on the marine
ecosystem. To implement
reliable policies for Ghana’s
oceans and coastal lines, it is
imperative to highlight some
main challenges we face.
Lack of sewage and
wastewater treatment
The lack of sewage and
wastewater treatment as well
as the release of pollutants
from industrial, shipping
and agricultural activities
are key threats to the ocean,
particularly in terms of food
security, safety and maintenance
of marine biodiversity.
Notwithstanding the numerous
concerns warranting the
need for proper institutionalization
of ocean governance
which has come to the forefront
of contemporary social
and political issues, there are
inadequate monitoring arrangements
for many pollutants,
accompanied by a lack
of effective arrangements to
establish and enforce norms
for levels of harmful substances.
Plausible dogmatism
towards ocean governance
In Ghana, the institutions
required to implement structured
policies for ocean governance
may exhibit a level
of dogmatism in safeguarding
our oceans. Perhaps, they
may be lacking the detailed
knowledge and skilled
manpower needed for ocean
governance and management.
Enacting an integrated
ocean governance policy to
augment the capacity and
technologies for planning
and managing land-based activities
that have an impact
on coastal and marine environments
as well as those activities
occurring in coastal
and marine environments
will ensure that economic
benefits can be maximized in
an environmentally sustainable
manner.
Seemingly non-existent
data for ocean governance
integration
Widespread and timely
access to data and information
is key to drafting ocean
governance policies. With
goals constitute an integrated,
indivisible set of global
priorities for sustainable
development.
Targets are defined as aspirational
global targets, with
each government setting its
own national targets guided
by the global level of ambition
but taking into account
national circumstances.
The goals and targets integrate
economic, social and
environmental aspects and
recognize their inter-linkages
in achieving sustainable development
in all its dimensions.
Hinging solely on SDG
14, issues related to oceans
and seas are addressed in the
ten (10) targets under SDG 14,
under the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development,
the outcome document of the
United Nations summit for
the adoption of the posst-2015
development agenda
in 2015.
Despite the overarching
contribution of the oceans,
seas and its coastal areas,
oceans are under intense
pressure from human activities.
Oceans, seas and marine
resources are increasingly
threatened, degraded or destroyed
by human activities,
reducing their ability to
provide crucial ecosystem
services. Important classes
of threats are, among others,
climate change, marine pollution,
unsustainable extraction
of marine resources
and physical alterations and
destruction of marine and
coastal habitats and landscapes.
The deterioration of coastal
and marine ecosystems
and habitats is negatively
affecting human well-being
worldwide. With the world’s
population expected to reach
9-10 billion by 2050, there will
be increasing demand and
global competition. With a
looming crisis in reference to
the potential overreliance of
the ocean, the complexity of
marine socio-ecological systems
has led to enacting policies
ocean governance. International
treaties, regional
agreements and national
policies often comprise complex
design, development and
implementation, that reflect
the desire to move towards
specific objectives.
To improve oceans governance,
the 1992 United
Nations Conference on
Environment and Developzero
or less data, we are
concerned on what policy
drafts hinges on. Scientific
data sharing via geospatial
data infrastructures will be
essential not only for synoptic
marine-environmental
observation, state-of-theocean
reporting, and more
detailed exploration of ocean
space, but also for ensuring
safety and security for the
growing number of marine
operators and improving
fisheries management practices.
Designing data and
information products for the
purpose of decision-making
and compliance monitoring
will require good coordination
among technology providers
and users. Simply put,
we lack the data, associated
tools and capacity for robust
assessment and development
and effective management of
the ocean and coastal areas.
Effective arrangements
for climate mitigation and
adaptation are lacking
Climate change, through
its warming and acidification
of the world’s oceans,
is likely to have profound
effects on Ghana’s marine
organisms and ecosystems,
with implications for food
security and many marine
industries. For many species,
the impact of such rapid
change and their resilience
to it are unknown. Interactions
between the various
changes in the oceans and
responses to the different
rates of change in the oceans
along with our coastal areas
should be known by our
mandated stakeholders.
Limited mapping strategies
The mapping of marine
habitats as a basis for identifying
areas that merit protection
coupled with structures
that support marine spatial
planning systems and information
frameworks are limited.
Against this backdrop,
it is important for ocean
governance policy drafts to
include an agreed criterion
to identifying sensitive areas
necessitating development.
In conclusion, the United
Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
outlines legal frameworks
within which all activities
in the oceans and seas must
be carried out, including the
conservation and sustainable
use of the ocean and its
resources. Effective implementation
of the Convention
is paramount in ensuring the
conservation of the marine
environment and the sustainable
use of its resources,
as well as the protection of
the many services that the
ocean will provide for future
generations. By so doing,
all relevant stakeholders in
the maritime space should
be seen as a unified body in
tackling the aforementioned
challenges by developing a
well structured Integrated
Ocean Governance Policy.
Author: Albert Fiatui is
the Executive Director at the
Centre for International Maritime
Affairs, Ghana (CIMAG),
an Advocacy and a Research
Policy Think- Tank, with focus
on the Maritime Industry
(Blue Economy) and general
Ocean Governance. He is also
the Director in charge of
Business Development and
HR, Logical Maritime Services
Limited, a privately held
global logistics company.
Source: Albert Fiatui