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South China Sea
OpinionComment
James Borton
James Borton

Opinion | Why getting US to ratify UNCLOS will aid Asean’s South China Sea goals

  • Asean and Vietnam in particular are in position to bolster an effective maritime approach to regional integration to better protect the marine environment
  • China’s maritime actions undermine the freedoms set out in UNCLOS, making it essential for Asean to convince the US to ratify the agreement

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
James Borton

December 10 marked 40 years since 119 delegations, perhaps inspired by the clear blue waters of Jamaica’s Montego Bay, became the first signatories of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a comprehensive framework for the governance of the world’s oceans and seas.

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However, there is little time for celebratory observance. The planet demands an even greater impetus for a rules-based order and a recasting of the imperfect treaty because of the increasing challenges of climate change, collapsing fisheries, new technologies, maritime security and the mining of deep seabed resources.
At the 14th annual South China Sea Conference, held in Da Nang on November 16 and hosted by Vietnam’s Diplomatic Academy, I heard Judge Kriangsak Kittichaisaree from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea reinforce the “real possibility that sea-level rise may submerge many of the geographical features in the South China Sea, which have served as bases to exert maritime entitlements”.
The science is clear. The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that “global mean sea level has risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in at least the last 3,000 years.”

No oceans law can stop rising tides. However, UNCLOS enshrines the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation and requires states to ensure that navigation is conducted safely and conforms to generally accepted international regulations and practices.

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The agreement at the onset did not anticipate the arrival of climate change. Since then, though, it has swiftly adopted the 1994 agreement on the implementation of Part XI of UNCLOS and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement.

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