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BIODIVERSITY AND THE
PRECAUTIONARY APPROACH
IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

The second panel began with a presentation by Virgi- PROTECTING THE MEDITERRANEAN SEABED
nie Tassin-Campanella, lawyer, founder of VTA Tassin
and Vice-Chair of the INDEMER Scientific Advisory
Board, who spoke about the very essence of law, "a Lawyer, Virginie Tassin-Campanella, explains:
tool for conflict prevention", and the unique context of "The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea does not make
the Mediterranean basin, with its rich history of naviga-
tion, trade, exchanges, conflicts, and cultural contribu- any specific mention of seabed exploration activities. In the Mediter-
tions. The lawyer also stressed the importance of the ranean, this legal void has been filled by the Offshore Protocol, which
precautionary approach, a principle that emerged with covers the seabed and the water column. Despite being passed in Ma-
the Stockholm Declaration (1972), when the preser- drid in 1994, this protocol has been the least ratified of the Barcelona
vation of the planet's resources was enshrined for the Convention, resulting in the protection of the seabed continuing to re-
first time in law. "Ecological issues started to become ceive little consideration.
an international concern in a highly complex geopoli-
tical context when states agree to regulate the use of This lack of regard is also linked to the fact that scientific studies on the
science and technology. Following this, the Mediter- seabed are limited, either because they are confined to mineral-rich
ranean coastal states created a governance mecha- areas, or because they are hampered by conflicts or disputed grey
nism under the name of the Barcelona Convention, areas where no data collection is possible. How can we apply a pre-
the cornerstone convention adopted in 1976, which cautionary approach without scientific data?”
has been replicated in different regions of the world."

The panellists focused on marine protected areas and The panel noted the cumulative contributions of the
the assessment of their impact on the Mediterranean United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,
environment. Live from Tunisia and Morocco, Montas- the Barcelona Convention and its protocols, the Fish
sar Ben Salem, Doctor of Law and Assistant Professor Stocks Agreement, the OSPAR Convention and the
at the Faculty of Legal, Political and Social Sciences in new High Seas Treaty (BBNJ). The difficulties asso-
Tunis, and Sarra Sefrioui, Associate Professor at the ciated with implementing this treaty, such as high seas
Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences in pockets, maritime disputes, oceanographic data col-
Tangier, delved into the subject of biodiversity and the lection and marine scientific research, were also dis-
precautionary approach in the Mediterranean. Vasco cussed. Highlighting the varying applications of legal
Becker-Weinberg, Professor of Law at the Lusophone tools in different parts of the world, the moderator re-
University and the NOVA School of Law, President of ferred to a legal case in New Zealand: in the case of
the Portuguese Institute for the Law of the Sea in Lis- a disputed project to exploit sand from the seabed,
bon, explained the differences between the precautio- the Supreme Court based its decision on existing law
nary approach and the precautionary principle, which and recognised the prevalence of the customary law of
has a legal aspect. He used the example of the very the people. "We must not wait for conflict to happen.
first case in the world, in Portugal, where the creation The purpose of the law is not to repair but to prevent
of a marine protected area on the high seas was fo- conflict and promote peace.", concludes Virginie Tas-
cused on "very strong challenges for a very advanced sin-Campanella.
environmental law."