Governing Global Commons Sustainably

Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• EU institutions, Member States and decision-makers worldwide, relevant international organisations, civil society organisations and other societal actors have a better shared understanding of the systemic challenges and the underlying drivers and motivations that undermine managing global commons sustainably.
• EU institutions, Member States and decision-makers worldwide, relevant international organisations, as well as academies of science, higher education institutions and research-performing organisations are better equipped with the tools needed to improve the science-policy interface in the area of foreign and security policies in general, and multilateral / national science advisory bodies in the field of foreign policy in particular with a recognition of the need to engage citizens in a more participatory and inclusive approach to research and policy-making.
• Rules-based multilateralism is strengthened by the development of concepts, methods, processes, and information relevant for decision-making that foster the sustainable governance of global commons within the evolving geopolitical context, thereby informing also the EU’s science diplomacy actions.

Global commons—resources shared by all humanity—are increasingly threatened by overuse and degradation by state and non-state actors. Spaces beyond national jurisdiction, in particular, require collective management to ensure sustainability for future generations. Not doing so will deepen the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and possibly lead to cascading and compounding effects and crossing irreversible tipping points and planetary boundaries. Evolving geopolitical tensions, weakened multilateral cooperation, technological advances, and rising commercial interests from non-state actors, have intensified pressures on global commons. Declining trust in science further complicates efforts to agree on their fair and sustainable governance, risking instability and conflict.

Against the current geopolitical background, there is a need to review the effectiveness of existing legal instruments and to accompany with research the implementation of new instruments. In addition, there is a need to further enhance the impact of existing and evolving science-policy fora^[1] and their links to relevant conventions and agreements. To this end, proposals should perform a comprehensive mapping of actors’ motivations and values on societal, corporate and state level that covers different regions and coalitions of countries around the world^[2].

Research is also needed into how the current governance of global commons affects intergenerational justice and human rights, including gender equality and the impact on different social groups, and how civil society can be enabled to access information, provide knowledge (including Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities knowledge), and participate in the governance of global commons. This may include conducting research aimed at enhancing citizen engagement and trust in governance processes and efforts, exploring motivations and drivers underlying stakeholder positions in multilateral fora. Proposals are also encouraged to study the rights of appeal and redress in policies related to the global commons, including but not limited to the “rights of nature”.

The underlying question is how a sustainable governance of global commons can look like in a multipolar world with competing hegemonic powers that do not necessarily share a common understanding of the merits of cooperation, multilateralism, or even international law. Hence, the overall aim of this call is to develop multi- and interdisciplinary concepts and solutions for governing the global commons sustainably, including through the use of science diplomacy as a soft power and by learning from best practices in the different types of commons, such as the Ocean, Antarctica and Outer Space.

Proposals are encouraged to explore how imbalances in the governance of global commons may contribute to geopolitical tensions, including the outbreak of direct conflicts or proxy wars, as well as the erosion or violation of human rights. They are also encouraged to consider the wider implications of such governance gaps for international stability and the rules-based global order.

Proposals are expected to address one of the following thematic areas:

Area A: Climate governance. Projects should consider past and current global climate governance efforts, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and develop insights for strengthening climate governance, considering the current geopolitical context. Specific attention should be given to analysing the drivers underlying the reproduction of diverging positions towards climate change among stakeholders and possible solutions as well as reinforcing the role of science-policy interfaces such as the IPCC and other relevant science-based mechanisms, e.g., through enhanced citizen engagement to increase trust. Proposals should inform and develop recommendations for EU and global science diplomacy action.

Area B: Biodiversity governance. Projects should consider past and current global biodiversity governance efforts, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, related Conferences of the Parties and their subsidiary bodies, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Projects are encouraged to examine in particular the integration of rights of appeal and redress in environmental decision-making processes, including legal mechanisms to address grievances and ensure accountability, particularly in the context of the “rights of nature” and other innovative approaches to environmental justice. Taking into account the current geopolitical environment, projects should develop options for reinforcing the role of science-policy interfaces such as the IPBES, IPR and other relevant science-based mechanisms, including the Global Knowledge Support Service for Biodiversity and the Subregional Technical and Scientific Cooperation Support Centres, with the aim of informing and developing recommendations for EU and global science diplomacy action. This should include a focus on enhancing access to environmental information for citizens and civil society organisations to empower biodiversity action, as well as mainstreaming gender equality and human rights considerations into biodiversity policy frameworks, in alignment with the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HCHR) on the development of human rights norms for biodiversity protection.

Area C: Governance of spaces beyond national jurisdiction. Projects should provide a cross-cutting assessment of how different types of spaces beyond national jurisdiction have been governed so far, notably the ocean, polar regions, outer space including the Moon, Low Earth Orbit, the use of the radio spectrum, and dark and quiet skies. This may include a comparative review of the legal frameworks (e.g., Antarctic Treaty, UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, High Seas Treaty, Outer Space Treaty, etc.). Projects should study in a holistic, multidisciplinary manner current and emerging pressures on these spaces, with specific emphasis on the role of non-state actors and develop approaches to governing these spaces sustainably despite geopolitical fragmentation, thereby informing EU science diplomacy action. Examples of application include, and are not limited to, the protection of deep-sea ecosystems, the management of space debris, or the preservation of a dark and quiet sky.

Research activities should meaningfully involve experts with practical experience in the relevant processes and bodies, including policymakers, diplomats, the business sector, academia, and civil society, including indigenous rights holders. Engagement with international partners is strongly encouraged. Involvement of the EU’s outermost regions is particularly welcome for area C. Research should have a multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary systemic perspective, bringing together expertise across natural sciences and engineering as well as social sciences and humanities (including history, law, ethics, and other disciplines). The selected projects should cooperate with each other to foster synergies and links between the different governance frameworks. Proposals are encouraged to identify other relevant EU-funded projects and to explore potential collaboration opportunities with them.

[1] Such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP), the International Resource Panel (IRP), and the International Platform for Ocean Sustainability (IPOS)

[2] Such as the G7, G20, G77, BRICS, Small Island Developing States, etc.