Climate Change:

Implications for the Socioeconomics &

Governance
of
Large Marine Ecosystems
Jon G Sutinen
Department of Environmental & Natural
Resource Economics
University of Rhode Island

University of Rhode Island

 Perspective

• How society prepares for & responds to the

challenges of climate change will depend on
– The system that governs humans’ interactions
with marine ecosystems
• This governance system has not performed
well to date
– Currently being restructured
• E.g., Ocean Action Plans in US & Canada

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 Status & Trends of Marine Ecosystems

• Global
– ‘Coastal & marine environmental degradation
not only continues but has intensified.’
• Marine pollution
• Overexploitation of living marine resources
• Coastal habitat loss
– Major threats ‘still exist, despite national and
international actions to address these
problems.’

Source: UNEP. 2002. Global Environment Outlook 3 University of Rhode Island

 The Issues

• Why do we find ourselves with degraded

ecosystems?
• How do we mitigate the degradation &
improve the status of marine ecosystems?
• What are the governance challenges unique
to climate change?
• What is needed to adapt to climate changes
in marine ecosystems?
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 Governance:
A framework for explaining outcomes

• 3 basic mechanisms that govern humans’

interactions with ecosystem resources
– Markets
– Government
– Civil society

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 Governance Mechanisms

Markets Civil Society

Government

Economic Legal/Political Social

Drivers Drivers Drivers

Human Uses of Marine Ecosystems

University of Rhode Island
 Markets
• Principal drivers of
– Excessive extraction of resources
– Disposal of pollutants
– Habitat alteration
• Market prices ‘Do not tell the ecological
truth’
– Prices do not reflect the full cost of products
made from ecosystem resources

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 Market driven impacts
• Fisheries
– overexploitation

Atlantic cod catch 1950-2002. Northeast Atlantic

blue), northwest Atlantic (green) and total (red) University of Rhode Island
 Market driven impacts
• Oil and gas
production
– Spills
– Discharges
• Drilling byproducts
• Shipping &
transportation
– Spills
– Waste discharges

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 Market driven impacts
• Coastal development
– Population concentration in
coastal areas
• 25% in Canada
• 55% in US
– Waste water discharge
– Alterations of coastal land
• Agriculture
– Nutrient runoff
• Nitrogen & phosphorus

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 Ancillary Cause:
Government
• Jurisdictions
– Incongruent with ecosystem boundaries in some cases
• Policies & regulations
– Developed separately to date
• Not integrated
• Fragmented, disjointed, ineffective, counter-productive
• Political dynamics
– Lack of ‘political will’
– Political interference, such as ‘End runs’
• NW Atlantic local, regional, national, international organizations
– Two countries, many states, provinces, tribal, & local authorities
– Regional fishery management councils & commissions
– NAFO, NASCO, Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
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 Institutions and Arrangements of
Civil Society
• Social norms & networks (social capital)
– Influence public policy & societal behavior patterns
– Incompatible social norms & conflicts among interest groups
impede ecosystem protection efforts
• Civil Organizations (NGOs)
– Manifestations of social capital
– NW Atlantic NGOs include
• Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP)
– 14 watershed/estuary-based local organizations throughout
Atlantic Canada
• WWF-Canada, Conservation Law Foundation, The Ocean
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Conservancy
Dealing with Governance Challenges
• Correcting & mitigating market failures
– Design or reform markets to ‘tell the ecological truth’
• Calculate ecological costs
– Economists & natural resource scientists
• Calculate the costs of pollution, habitat destruction,
overexploitation, etc
• Incorporate ecological costs into market prices
– Shift taxes & subsidies to work in ecological benign ways
• Reduce income & property taxes in exchange for
• Adding taxes on environmentally damaging activities
• User charges & other forms of sustainable financing
– Cap-and-trade programs

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 Dealing with Governance Challenges

• Correcting & mitigating government weaknesses

– Harmonize policies & regulations
– Combat shortsighted effects
• Harmonize the interests of political leaders, agency managers, &
resource users with the goal of sustainable development
– Avoid decoupled costs & benefits
• Sustainable financing
– E.g., apply the user (beneficiary) pays principle
– Neutralize ‘special interests’

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 Dealing with Governance Challenges

• Institutions & arrangements of civil society

– Build & strengthen social capital for sustainable
development
• Active involvement of NGOs
• Partnerships between government and civic
organizations
• Devolve some rights & responsibilities to NGOs
– E.g., monitoring, habitat rehabilitation projects

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 Concluding Remarks

• The governance of human interactions with

marine ecosystems has not performed well
in the past.
• Significant improvements in the structure of
governance have been & are being made.
– But more needs to be done
• To mitigate market failure,
• To improve government performance, &
• To strengthen civil society’s constructive
involvement
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 Concluding Remarks

• How will the challenges of climate change

differ from the challenges presented by human-
induced changes to marine ecosystems?
– External forcing of changes will trigger disruptions
in markets, governments & civil society
– Given their inherent weaknesses, will markets,
government & civil society respond in desirable
ways?

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 Governance Mechanisms

Markets Civil Society

Government

Economic Legal/Political Social

Drivers Drivers Drivers

Human Uses of Marine Ecosystems

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information, see →

Available online at
www.iwlearn.net/abt_iwlearn/pns/learning/b2-2lme/riworkshop

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