PhD progress seminar given at the Australian National University. Canberra, 11 November 2014.

1. Marine Governance in an
Industrialised Ocean
A case study of the UK’s emerging
Marine Renewable Energy industry
Glen Wright
Australian National University College of Law
www.GlenWright.net
PhD presentation
11 November 2014

2. Overview
 Context
 NZ Kaipara Harbour project – a story
 Marine governance
 Policy context – ‘Blue Growth’
 Research question
 Marine Renewable Energy
 Research
 Aims
 Questions
 Approach
 Findings
 Publications
 Published papers
 Current projects

4. Marine Governance
 Rights and ownership (seabed leasing/tenure)
 Resource management (managing access to marine
resources)
 Environmental interactions (sustainable development of
resources)
 Managing ocean space (conflicts between users)

5. The ‘Blue Growth’ agenda
"harness the untapped potential of Europe's oceans, seas
and coasts for jobs and growth... whilst safeguarding
biodiversity and protecting the marine environment" (EU)

6. How can evolving marine governance
frameworks support development of
innovative new marine industries, while
also protecting an increasingly fragile and
crowded marine environment?

7. Marine Renewable Energy
 Offshore wind
 Wave and tidal
 Full-scale prototype devices and testing
 Commercial projects, e.g.:
 Meygen - 86 x 1MW, 1.1km2
 Pelamis - 15-20 devices, 1km2

8. Why marine renewables as a
case study of modern marine governance?
 At the intersection of a number of discourses
 Renewable energy/climate mitigation
 Innovation/technology & law/regulation
 Marine governance/ocean industrialisation
 Challenges all aspects of marine governance
 Requires exclusive use of large areas - conflicts
 Limited resource, competition over access
 Uncertain environmental impacts

9. Research Aims
 Advance marine governance
 Exploring key issues as they apply in practice
 Providing a framework for assessing national marine
governance reform efforts
 Advance the MRE industry
 Assessing the UK as a leading jurisdiction
 Detailing & disseminating good practice
 Contributing to the growing social sciences literature
 Feed into ongoing policy processes, particularly in EU

10. Rights & Ownership
 Rights = the basis for projects
 'Enclosure' of marine space
 ‘Privatisation’ of the marine environment
 Public vs. private rights
 Rights of public, communities,
indigenous people

11. Resource management
 Who can access the resources?
 Under what conditions?
 What is the process for distributing these rights?
 1. Underlying principles
 2. A sound process

12. Environmental interactions
 Encourage innovation, protect the marine environment
 Precaution vs. Risk/Uncertainty
 “marine energy attracts a depth of scrutiny from
environmental regulators and statutory nature conservation
bodies that more established marine industries such as
fishing and shipping have managed to escape.”
(Merry 2014)
 Rochdale Envelope
 Deploy & Monitor
 Adaptive Management

13. Managing ocean space
 Marine Spatial Planning vs. ocean zoning
 What is the role of planning tools?
 What role do emerging industries play?

14. Approach to Research
 Desktop research – application of existing literature to MRE
context/using MRE to consider governance issues
 Primary research – interviews with MRE developers
 Participation in ongoing processes
 Marine Scotland MSP workshops
 ISSMER
 DG-MARE MSP project
 PhD ‘by publication’
 Outline paper
 Paper on each theme
 Publication of primary research findings

15. Published papers
 ‘Ocean energy: a legal perspective’ (2013) 8(1) Journal of Ocean Technology
 ‘Marine governance in an industrialised ocean: A case study of the emerging marine
renewable energy industry’ (2014) Marine Policy (in press)
 Rights and Ownership in Sea Country: a case study of marine renewable energy
development in indigenous and island communities’ (2014) Marine Policy (collaborative
paper, in press)
 ‘Regulating the Marine Renewable Energy Industry: a preliminary assessment of UK
permitting processes’ (2014) 32(1) Journal of Underwater Technology
 ‘Strengthening the Role of Science in Marine Governance through Environmental Impact
Assessment: a case study of the marine renewable energy industry’ (2014) 99 Journal of
Ocean and Coastal Management
 'The Rochdale Envelope Approach to Environmental Impact Assessment: A review of
use and challenges in the context of renewable energy project development’ (under
review)
 ‘A tidal power project’ (2011) New Zealand Law Journal

16. In progress
 A legal research agenda for MRE – collaborative paper
with 8 international researchers
 Publication of interview results
 ‘Sustainably advancing the Blue Economy: EIA of
Marine Renewable Energy projects in the UK’ (invited
book chapter, in progress)

17. Thank you!