CHRISTIAAN DE BEUKELAER: “One Planet Shipping: Can Maritime Transport Deliver Climate Justice?”

Abstract

In a globalized economy, human life seems scarcely imaginable without maritime transport. Shipping has, both historically and currently, shaped the expansion of global trade. This means that this industry has, at least in theory, the potential to reshape this trade. However, the focus of environmental regulation in the industry remains narrowly focused on greenhouse gas emissions and harm reduction, rather than actively aiming to shape a liveable planet for all. By using “doughnut economics” as a guiding framework, I explore how to balance social needs and environmental constraints to ensure a “safe operating space for humanity,” beyond the narrow regulatory frameworks of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency that regulates the industry. The ocean is, after all, a unique space governed by inter-governmental organisations (controlled by nation-states) without being subject to sovereign claims of nation states. Indeed, rather than being a mere extension of sovereign states, the ocean is governed as an extra-territorial global space. It thus holds up a mirror to terrestrial governance. This creates a different set of stakes and possibilities for environmental governance at sea than on land – calling into question methodological nationalism. I therefore ask whether oceanic governance can reframe climate justice on terra firma by delivering global economy that is both just, fair, equitable, and entirely compatible with Earth System Boundaries?