An Increasing Need to Change the Law of the Sea

A detailed set of legal, institutional and/or wider governance reform recommendations and supporting analysis, focusing on one of the topic areas listed below.
The essay must be no longer than 6,000 words with a 10% over limit allowance (excluding footnotes) and be referenced using AGLC 4.
The maritime transport sector in Pacific Island Countries is widely acknowledged to experience a range of challenges that constrain efforts to achieve sustainable low-carbon development. What does current evidence suggest are the most significant challenges for the sector? What specific legal and governance reforms should be prioritised to address these challenges in the short, medium and long term, and how in practical terms could they be implemented?
Marine plastic pollution can reduce ecosystems' ability to adapt to climate change, directly affecting millions of people's livelihoods, food production capabilities and social well-being. What changes are needed at national, regional and global scales to minimise the impacts of marine plastic pollution? What specific features of a global governance instrument for plastic pollution are needed to enable or incentivise such changes?
Current evidence indicates that marine and coastal ecosystems function as assets that underpin a broad range of valuable, and in some cases irreplaceable, benefits for people. Financial investment in conservation, restoration and enhancement of these ecosystems to achieve "nature-based solutions" is generally considered inadequate. What are the key barriers to increasing the scale of financial flows supporting marine and coastal nature-based solutions? What governance instrument(s) at a global scale are needed to address these barriers and how should they be designed?
Most countries are party to a wide range of International commitments concerning sustainable management and development of the ocean and related economic sectors. To what extent are implementation of these commitments strategically planned and coherently implemented across different economic sectors at a national level? What legal, institutional and governance mechanisms are used in different countries to support holistic planning for sustainable ocean development, and what variations are evident in their design? At a global level, what guidance, obligations or other instruments could be used to strengthen efforts to implement holistic planning for sustainable ocean development?
From your class materials or broader reading, identify a trend, change or issue concerning the marine or coastal environment (broadly defined) that has been described by relevant experts as having negative impacts on the economy or human well-being in one or more countries. Succinctly describe this trend, change or issue and its associated impacts, providing supporting evidence from relevant authoritative sources. Identify specific features of the law of the sea, other relevant international agreement(s) and national law(s), and associated governance processes that could be changed to address your chosen environmental trend, change or issue and/or its associated impacts for people. Analyse the benefits and disadvantages of your proposed legal or governance changes relative to other potential options, and propose practical recommendations for how such changes could be implemented.