Elisabeth Mann Borgese’s Invisible Hand in Ocean Governance: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

In the history of Planet Ocean (after all 75 percent of it is covered by ocean) three human beings as no others have defined its destiny through the genius of thought, passion, and craft: Hugo Grotius, Arvid Pardo, and Elisabeth Mann Borgese. For centuries, the Grotius principle of freedom of the seas was unassailable. Then came that virtuous day when Pardo, the then Ambassador of Malta at the United Nations, made his marathon speech to the United Nations General Assembly (unga) on 1 November 1967 advocating a new principle for a new law of the sea. That principle was destined to be that of the common heritage of mankind, which transcends both concepts of sovereignty and freedom in human relations with the ocean and its governance.1 That speech in its totality galvanized Elisabeth, who at that time was a fellow of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. She saw Pardo’s ideals aligning with those of the Center and her own beliefs, in particular Pardo’s emphasis on the peaceful use of the ocean and its living and non-living resources. This was to lead to several narratives that impacted the convening and processes of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (unclos iii). She grafted Pardo’s ideas on the framework of Pope John xxxiii Pacem in Terris, thereby creating Pacem in Maribus. As Pardo’s intellectual partner, and with the support of the Maltese government, she convened the 1970 Pacem in Maribus conference to discuss the broad issues of the use of ocean services and resources into internationally agreed law.2 In 1972 she established the International Ocean Institute (ioi) in Malta as the think tank for the evolving negations at unclos iii. She wrote: