The thirteenth episode of the Ocean Governance Podcast looks at maritime boundaries and the challenges that maritime delimitation and the zoning system face in a time of rising sea levels and intensified demand for maritime resources. How come that more than half of all maritime boundaries have not been finally agreed by the states concerned, and what demands do rising sea levels place on the law and policy of maritime delimitation and zoning? In discussing this, Aron Westholm and David Langlet are aided by a guest, Snjólaug Árnadóttir. Among other things, Snjólaug is a member of the International Law Association’s Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise and has written extensively on maritime boundaries.

In the episode, we discuss two very recent texts. One looks in some detail at the legal options for preventing the dramatic shrinking or complete disappearance of maritime zones due to rising sea levels. The other takes a broader historical and functional approach to the topic of maritime boundaries, querying why maritime boundaries are so frequently disputed and how to understand the legal and political principles that frame endeavours to settle such disputes.

The articles discussed in this episode are:

Alfred H.A. Soons, ‘The Effects of Sea Level Rise on Baselines and Outer Limits of Maritime Zones’, in Tomas Heidar (ed), New Knowledge and Changing Circumstances in the Law of the Sea (Brill 2020), 358-381.

Andreas Østhagen, ‘Maritime boundary disputes: What are they and why do they matter?’, 120 Marine Policy (2020) 104118.

Also mentioned in this episode is P.E. Steinberg, The Social Construction of the Ocean, Cambridge University Press, 2001.

If you want to comment on the content or otherwise communicate with us, please do so by sending an email to: [email protected].

We hope that you will enjoy listening!