Oceans

Oceans are our deepest substantive specialisation.

Ordinem International provides specialist strategic guidance on the international law, policy, institutions and diplomacy that shape ocean governance.

Our expertise reflects sustained engagement with the legal frameworks, institutions, negotiations and policy processes through which ocean affairs are governed internationally.

The specialist practice

Ocean questions rarely belong to a single body of law, institution or policy process.

They can engage questions of jurisdiction, rights and obligations, biodiversity, resources, development, institutional competence, diplomacy and implementation — often simultaneously.

Ordinem International approaches these questions with particular attention to the relationship between law, institutions, policy, politics and implementation.

Areas of Expertise

Understanding the legal architecture governing ocean space, activities and interests.

Ordinem International advises on the interpretation and application of the international law of the sea, including UNCLOS, rights and obligations, jurisdiction, institutional mandates and competence, and evolving legal questions affecting ocean governance.

Our work may include:
Law of the Sea · UNCLOS · Rights and obligations · Jurisdiction · Treaty and instrument interpretation · Institutional mandates and competence

Specialist expertise in the evolving international architecture for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity.

Ordinem International provides strategic and substantive advice on marine biodiversity governance, with particular depth in the BBNJ Agreement and the institutional, procedural and implementation architecture emerging around it.

Our work may include:
BBNJ · Marine biodiversity governance · Treaty implementation · Institutional development · Financial and procedural architecture · Capacity-building and transfer of marine technology · National and regional preparedness

Advancing ocean interests through diplomacy, negotiation and collective action.

Ordinem International advises governments, institutions and groups of states on the diplomatic and strategic dimensions of ocean affairs, including international negotiations, coalition dynamics, regional and multilateral processes, and the positioning and advancement of ocean interests.

Our work may include:
Negotiating strategy · International positioning · Coalition strategy · SIDS ocean diplomacy · Regional diplomacy · Multilateral processes · High-level engagement

Turning ocean priorities into effective governance, policy and action.

Ordinem International advises on the development, operation and implementation of ocean governance and policy frameworks, including Blue Economy strategy, institutional arrangements and the translation of international instruments, decisions and policy priorities into national, regional and institutional action.

Our work may include:
Ocean governance · Blue Economy policy and strategy · Institutional arrangements · Ocean policy development · Implementation planning · National and regional implementation · Emerging ocean policy

From negotiation to implementation

Specialist depth. Wider perspective.

Negotiation→Agreement→Institutions→Implementation→Operational effect

Ocean questions do not exist apart from the wider international system.

Ordinem International's oceans practice combines specialist substantive expertise with an understanding of the legal, institutional, political and diplomatic environments in which ocean interests are defined, negotiated and advanced.

It also draws on the capabilities that inform our wider advisory work — multilateral strategy, international law and policy, institutional affairs, diplomatic strategy, research and analysis, strategic drafting and implementation support.

This allows us to consider an ocean question not only on its substantive merits, but in relation to the wider political, institutional and strategic realities that may determine what is possible and what should follow.

Bring us the question.

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