Session chairs:
Vanessa Stelzenmüller (Germany)
Michel Comeau (Canada)
Chris Kelble (USA)
Session A addresses examples from specific marine sectors (such as fisheries, aquaculture, energy etc) where measures (prevention / mitigation etc) and critically evaluates the effectiveness of these in addressing SDG 14 targets (such as those relating to marine pollution, protection of marine ecosystems, overfishing).
Current ecosystem-based research and assessment approaches are providing valuable insight to inform decisions regarding protection and conservation priorities in the marine environment. Mitigation and offsetting, and compensation measures are the hallmark approaches to manage localized effects of development projects identified as a result of environmental assessments.
Most current regulatory regimes were developed to reduce the pressures resulting from sector-specific activities as a means to mitigate localized impacts and effects without necessarily considering the resulting residual impacts and effects at a broader ecosystem scale. A comprehensive management strategy should combine a proactive approach to minimize the pressures generated by sector-specific activities with current protection and conservation strategies. Without an understanding of the level of collective pressure generated by current sector-specific practices, the results of cumulative effects assessment cannot be reconciled with the improvement needed to such practices.
Questions to be considered for submitted papers and panel discussions in this session:
What is our current understanding of the effectiveness of current sector-specific management systems of regulations, standards, codes of practice, and guidelines in achieving ecosystem-based objectives?
What is our current understanding of the pathways of effects linking the localized impacts and effects resulting from the sector-specific activities and the impacts and effects observed at the ecosystem scales?
What science would be needed to generate a better understanding of the effectiveness of these management system and linkages to cumulative effects assessments?