Ocean acidification (OA) is a major challenge for marine environmental governance, and one that has given rise to increasing concern as scientific knowledge of the problem and its impacts continues to grow. This chapter thus explores governance arrangements for strengthening marine ecosystem health and resilience and the extent to which they incorporate responses to OA. There is a complex suite of existing governance arrangements for strengthening marine ecosystem resilience that can be harnessed to help vulnerable aquatic systems as the oceans acidify. However, this chapter also demonstrates that management for OA is, at best, a marginal consideration in existing marine biodiversity conservation regimes, despite the significant threat that OA poses to vulnerable aquatic systems. The chapter therefore highlights a significant potential role for marine ecosystem governance arrangements in promoting meaningful steps towards integrated OA and marine conservation management across multiple governance scales. The chapter briefly summarizes OA science and the socio-ecological impacts of acidification in the oceans, before highlighting the role of strengthening marine ecosystem health and resilience in helping vulnerable aquatic systems cope with OA. The chapter also explores relevant governance arrangements and how they address OA at multilateral, regional and in a limited number of domestic jurisdictions, and underlines key governance opportunities and gaps in existing governance frameworks.
Makomere R., 2024. Chapter 8 – Responding to ocean acidification by strengthening marine ecosystem health and resilience. In: McCormack P. C. & Caddell R. (Eds.), Research Handbook on Climate Change and Biodiversity Law, pp. 162-183. Edward Elgar Publishing. Chapter (restricted access).
