Global ocean governance at critical juncture amid rising unilateral actions

Global ocean governance has entered a phase where multilateral rulemaking accelerates even as unilateral actions fracture the order those rules depend on, according to an annual report released by the Dalian Maritime University in Beijing on Tuesday.

The Annual Observation Report on the Development of Global Ocean Governance (2025-2026) selects 10 landmark events, which show that global ocean governance has reached a crossroads of deep transformation, with rule implementation coexisting with institutional contestation.

The 10 landmark events were selected based on their global impact, institutional innovation, thematic representation and lasting influence. The report aims to identify institutional changes, thematic shifts and risk trends in global ocean governance through a continuous and dynamic observation framework, providing systematic reference for government decision-making, academic research and the wider public.

"The report brings high-seas biodiversity, ocean-climate governance, international shipping, critical sea lanes, deep-sea mining, submarine cables and polar governance into a unified analytical framework, which reflects the crosscutting, integrated and increasingly securitized character of today's ocean governance," Ma Mingfei, a professor at Dalian Maritime University in Liaoning province, said.

Topping the list is the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement — formally the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction — the third implementing agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China has applied to host the agreement's secretariat in Xiamen, Fujian province.

Ma stressed that the agreement's significance lies in the structural shift it represents — from decades of rule negotiation to the beginning of practical implementation.

"Entry into force does not mean governance goals have been achieved. Its actual effectiveness depends on funding, technology transfer, compliance oversight and coordination with existing international and regional mechanisms," he said.

Should Xiamen win the bid, China would provide a platform for international cooperation and capacity building, Ma said, adding that there is a need to shoulder higher-standard host-country obligations and set an example in implementation.

Other events on the list cover areas including disruptions to critical shipping chokepoints, rising security risks to submarine cable infrastructure, the United States Section 301 investigation into China's maritime and shipbuilding industries, and unresolved reviews of deep-sea mining regulations.

The report noted the growing importance of regional organizations as core vehicles for implementing global ocean governance rules, highlighting a shift from global to regional frameworks and emphasizing that the rising role of Global South countries is driving ocean governance toward greater fairness and inclusiveness.

Ma said the sharpest contradiction ahead is the growing gap between the collective-action demands of transnational ocean problems and the pull of unilateralism and great-power rivalry.

"Current challenges such as climate change, high-seas biodiversity protection, deep-sea mining, submarine cable security and critical sea-lane risks are all transnational, and no country can tackle them alone," he said.

"However, some countries are applying domestic law extraterritorially, deploying unilateral trade measures and pursuing exclusionary industrial policies that securitize and instrumentalize ocean issues," Ma added.

He said the international community needs to close institutional gaps in several areas, including better coordination between UNCLOS and emerging specialized rules to reduce jurisdictional overlap. Stronger funding, technology transfer and capacity-building mechanisms would also allow developing countries to participate meaningfully. In addition, risk-warning, information-sharing and emergency-response mechanisms for critical sea lanes, submarine cables and deep-sea development need to be established.

"Only by translating international rules into stable, enforceable cooperation arrangements can ocean governance move beyond declarations of principle," Ma said.