In 1980, reports of deep-sea jellyfish blooms in Norwegian fjords led researchers to investigate the problem. The helmet jellyfish, Periphylla periphylla, has since migrated far north into Arctic waters. This paper examines what happened when the jellyfish blooms were noticed in 1980 from a historical and ethnographic perspective. It traces four research projects and business ideas that proposed solutions to the jellyfish problem and asks how they are representative of the ways in which humans meet the challenges of anthropogenic climate change. The paper concludes that the jellyfish problem was met with a “techno-fix” attitude that sought to “turn a problem into a resource”, which eventually leads to what Julia Livingston has termed “self-devouring growth”. In a final outlook, the article asks how we can engage with questions of conservation from a humanities perspective and concludes that the jellyfish story can help us to ask questions about “conservation for whom”.

Over the past half century, the global environment has become subject to an accelerated pace of mediation and datafication. This ongoing transition has become so comprehensive that the knowledge, management and governance of the Earth system is dependent on enormous flows of data from a “vast machine” of measuring tools. These processes combined have formed what we call a “mediated planet,” subject to interpretation and shared human decision-making – that should ideally be democratic, inclusive and accountable. As environmental datafication continues to accelerate, private corporations are gaining increasing influence on and power over the associated collections of data. This is a cause for concern, as the global environmental commons are a public interest of concern to all people. This article argues for the need to critically research the challenges and risks associated with the rapid datafication of the environment, specifically in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for climate change (13), the ocean (14), biodiversity (15) and inclusive and accountable institutions (16). More knowledge is needed of how the SDGs and their supporting networks influence data-generation on a mediated planet, and how issues of access to and use of environmental data, as well as data ownership and AI implementation, can best be navigated. We contend that such knowledge can help enhance the democratic potential of the SDGs to build public trust and secure broad participation in global environmental governance in ways that also support peaceful and inclusive societies, as promised by SDG 16.

In the late twentieth century, as the United Nations struggled to come up with a new legal system for the oceans, one woman saw the opportunity to promote radical new ideas of justice and internationalism. Ocean governance expert Elisabeth Mann Borgese (1918–2002) spent decades working with the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention. Throughout this sprawling series of global conferences, she navigated allegiances and enmities, intrigues and setbacks, fighting determinedly to develop a just ocean order.

Featuring extensive research and new interviews with Mann Borgese’s colleagues and family, this book explores timeless questions of justice and international collaboration and asks whether the extraordinary drive and vision of a single person can influence the course of international law.

The Third United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS III, 1973–1982) was a ground-breaking event that saw the evolution of new ways of negotiating international rules and regulations for ocean governance. Many people were involved in shaping a new Law of the Sea, but not many have studied those individual’s contribution to the negotiations. “Elisabeth Mann Borgese Deep Ideology” illuminates the role of one of the key actors, during and after UNCLOS III.

The study examines the origins of Mann Borgese’s ideal of internationalism, and her ideas for applying her ideal to the convention through the concept of the common heritage of mankind (CHM). Mann Borgese did this by putting forward concrete proposals during the negotiations, by building institutions, and by affiliating herself with key people like Maltese ambassador Arvid Pardo and key delegations and groups like the Austrian Delegation, The Group of Landlocked and Geographically Disadvantaged States and the Evensen Group. The study argues that her ideal of internationalism stemmed from her earlier work with the Committee to Frame a World Constitution in Chicago and the Center for the Study of Democratic Institution in Santa Barbara under Robert M Hutchins. It demonstrates how she utilised her experiences in Chicago and Santa Barbara to stage her own Pacem in Maribus conferences, and to design and found the International Ocean Institute. It also explores her proposal for an ocean regime, and its potential to expand into a world regime. The study of Elisabeth Mann Borgese shows her ability to adapt to changing situations, and her willingness to downsize her ideas to achieve even just a small part of her idealist ambitions in relation to ocean governance.