Episode #15: How green is your ocean?
Marine governance and the European Green Deal
Oceans are at the forefront of climate change. As the biggest carbon sink, they play an important role in absorbing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. However, this absorption also heats up the ocean and results in ocean acidification, with significant negative consequences for marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them for their livelihood. At the same time, it has also become one of the prime locations for renewable energy generation.
In this episode, Froukje Maria Platjouw and Judith van Leeuwen, marine governance experts, share their insights on how the EU governs its oceans and seas, how it features into the European Green Deal, and the challenges sustainable marine governance faces.
For more information on their Horizon Europe research projects, which study how to navigate the complexity of EU marine governance under the European Green Deal to develop a coherent and integrated EU ocean policy framework, you can go here: CrossGov and PERMAGOV. You can also explore the topic further through our roundtable recording: "Delivering the European Green Deal - towards a coherent and integrated EU ocean policy framework for offshore renewable wind energy and biodiversity"
About the guests
Froukje Maria Platjouw coordinates the ongoing Horizon Europe project 'Coherent and cross-compliant ocean governance for delivering the EU Green Deal for European Seas (CrossGov, 2022-2025).
She works in the field of EU and international law, and is specialized in environmental law, ocean law and ecosystem-based governance. In her position at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, she works on a variety of research projects predominantly related to coastal and marine governance in Europe. Key research interests are analyses of laws and policies to identify gaps, overlaps and/or inconsistencies and to suggest the changes necessary to improve the effectiveness, harmonization and coherence of legal frameworks, at the international, EU, and national level alike for a better protection of the environment and ecosystem functioning. Latest books include ‘Environmental Law and the Ecosystem Approach – Maintaining Ecological Integrity through Consistency in Law’ (Routledge 2016), and ‘The Environmental Rule of Law for Oceans – Designing Legal Solutions’ (ed. with A. Pozdnakova, Cambridge University Press 2023).
Judith van Leeuwen’ field of interest and expertise lies in how the role of and relationship between public and private actors, specifically corporate actors, shapes global environmental and marine governance. Her research contributes to understanding how corporate actors are steered towards and respond to demands for sustainability transformations. She focuses in particular on policy concepts and instruments, such as environmental information disclosure mechanisms, social license to operate, ecosystem-based management, blue economy and circular economy, through which corporate actors are stimulated to become more proactive and reflexive in managing their environmental footprint and transformation. Through interdisciplinary research projects and approaches she aims to conceptualize the role of public and private actors by taking into account the economic, social and environmental conditions sectors operate in. Moreover, her aim is to increase insights into system and sector dynamics and lock-ins that prevent corporate actors to move away from business as usual. Her research and publications cover a range of marine sectors and issues including international shipping, offshore extractive industry and plastic pollution.
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About the podcast series
Ever since the von der Leyen Commission launched the European Green Deal, European climate policy went into overdrive, and it seems like every week there is a new initiative.
To help you navigate, understand and unpack these complexities, GreenDeal-NET created a podcast in which researcher Jana Gheuens talks with leading climate experts about their work and insights. Topics range from the objectives of the Green Deal to climate adaptation and environmental movements.