The Ocean and China’s Drive for an Ecological Civilization

I first met Elisabeth Mann Borgese after joining Dalhousie University in the late 1970s, and we were colleagues and friends until her untimely passing. We shared many common interests concerning oceans, environment, and international development. Often I participated in International Ocean InstituteCanada (IOI-Canada) programs. Like so many others I felt challenged by her remarkable range of interests, her passion for pacem in maribus, and her prescience regarding many aspects of ocean governance and uses such as mariculture. I certainly agreed with her deep commitment to developing nations, especially for peaceful and sustainable ocean use. She brought integrative views and understanding about the law of the sea, and how its full application could link people from all parts of the world in common cause. But in 1982 the ocean situation was very different from today. Nowadays we talk about a technologically sophisticated and vastly expanded global ‘Blue Economy’, with hopes that it may be doubled in the years ahead. However, there is a level of crisis in ocean use that worsens decade by decade. Threats are now regional and global. I am sure that Elisabeth would agree that the future health of the ocean will require much more attention to green development, environmental protection, and innovation in global governance. Indeed, for problems such as ocean acidification, impacts of plastics and other wastes, and from intensive coastal development, there is no single framework for addressing sustainable use. Chapter 14 of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals provides a helpful start, but the legal framework for integrated approaches to marine sustainable use is not fully provided by the current law of the sea, or even by the combination of the many accords that in one way or another affect ocean use. I have had the good fortune to work closely with environment and development authorities and scientists in three major ocean countries, namely, Canada, Indonesia, and China, plus carrying out ocean-related activities in a