A Super Year for Ocean Governance: A Dream Deferred?

The document examines the postponement of critical 2020 ocean governance negotiations due to COVID-19, highlighting the urgent need for integrated climate and biodiversity action to prevent marine ecosystem collapse.

• The year 2020 was designated as a 'Super Year for the Ocean' intended for high-level negotiations on ocean governance, climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development, but these processes were delayed by COVID-19 travel bans and prohibitions on in-person gatherings.
• The ocean provides critical climate regulation and carbon storage services, yet it is seriously degraded by fossil fuel emissions and overexploitation. High emissions scenarios project widespread ocean warming, sea-level rise, acidification, and the loss of coastal ecosystems.
• Despite the Paris Agreement, global emissions continue to rise; the UN Environment's 2019 Emissions Gap Report indicates the world is on course for a 3.2°C temperature rise even if all national commitments are implemented.
• Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates, leading to the goal of a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to replace the largely unmet Aichi Targets, including Target 11 which aimed to protect at least 10% of the ocean by 2020.
• Two major intergovernmental negotiation processes were delayed in 2020: the agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the high seas (under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the WTO negotiations to remove fisheries subsidies that contribute to overexploitation.
• Current economic indicators like GDP fail to account for natural resource depletion and ecosystem degradation. The author argues for 'full-cost accounting of natural capital' to reflect the true wealth of nations.
• The author proposes a 'Green Stimulus Framework' for post-COVID-19 economic recovery, focusing on green jobs, renewable energy, circular economy models, and the restoration of degraded landscapes and seascapes.

APA

CHEVALLIER, R. (2020). A Super Year for Ocean Governance: A Dream Deferred? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-85-chevallier.pdf

Chicago

CHEVALLIER, ROMY. A Super Year for Ocean Governance: A Dream Deferred? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2020. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-85-chevallier.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=CHEVALLIER |first1=ROMY |title=A Super Year for Ocean Governance: A Dream Deferred? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=May 2020 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-85-chevallier.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chevallier2020super, author = {CHEVALLIER, ROMY}, title = {{A Super Year for Ocean Governance: A Dream Deferred?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2020}, month = may, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy-Insights-85-chevallier.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }