Environmental Rights In Marine Spaces

Environmental rights are typically regarded as an extension of human rights into environmental matters. They encompass both substantive rights, such as the right to a healthy environment, and procedural rights, which include access to environmental information, participation in decision-making and access to justice. Environmental rights discourse has been used to deepen our understanding of how and why we protect the natural world. This discourse is mainly focused on rights arising from terrestrial activities. Similarly, leading international environmental rights jurisprudence is dominated by matters related to land use. Arguably this focus is the by-product of a nexus between people and lived space - a nexus that facilitates an awareness, realisation and protection of individual rights arising in terrestrial spaces. However, such a nexus appears to be either absent or under-developed in marine contexts. At best, generally fashioned environmental rights spill over into marine environments. Significantly, no human rights instrument explicitly refers to the oceans, but the inherent and universal nature of human rights implies they extent to ocean spaces. This is reflected in legal texts particular to marine spaces which have little if anything to say about human rights. This chapter explores this phenomenon from an international law perspective, and explains why the marine environment seems to resist or at least exist at the margins of environmental rights discourse: why there is a 'dissonance' between environmental rights and human activities at sea. By understanding why environmental rights are marginalised we can begin to take steps to bring this discourse to the fore in developing the regulation of marine spaces. Arguably, this is best done by creating space for greater local engagement in marine regulation (participatory rights), and by recognising the different connections that people have with both ocean spaces and things (substantive rights).

This wholly new edition of the Handbook provides an authoritative examination of international law relating to the protection of the marine environment. Chapters critically engage with current legal issues surrounding activities that harm the marine environment, including marine pollution, seabed activities, exploitation of marine biodiversity and climate change, and with the different legal tools and mechanisms, including environmental impact assessments and compliance and dispute settlement mechanisms, used to protect the marine environment. New chapters also address legal issues relating to the role of technology and marine scientific research as well as the application of principles such as public participation. This title contains one or more Open Access chapters.

Our oceans need a strong and effective environmental rule of law to protect them against increased pressures and demands, including climate change, pollution, fisheries, shipping and more. The environmental rule of law for oceans requires the existence of a set of rules and policies at multiple governance levels that appropriately regulate human activities at sea and ensure that pressures on the marine ecosystem are tackled effectively. Adhering to the rule of law through clear, predictable, coherent, and legitimate rules, and their implementation and enforcement, is timely and urgent. In this book, we are searching for ways to improve, strengthen and further develop the environmental rule of law for oceans. The book provides future-oriented perspectives on how law should evolve to better preserve the oceans. All chapters incorporate novel insights and ideas for legal solutions that might inspire scholars, actors, authorities, citizens and communities around the globe. This title is Open Access.

Frontiers in International Environmental Law is a collection of essays that showcases how law and legal scholarship can responded to challenges to our oceans and climate governance regimes.

This book investigates competing constructions of areas beyond national jurisdiction, and their role in the creation and articulations of legal principles, providing a broader perspective on the ongoing negotiation at the UN on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is an integrated and comprehensive approach to ocean governance and is used to establish a rational use of marine space and reconcile conflicting interests of its users. MSP allows both a high level of environmental protection and a wide range of human activities and emphasizes coordinated networks of national, regional and global institutions. This book focuses on the framework of international law behind MSP and especially on the transboundary aspects of MSP. It first sets out a general framework for transboundary MSP and then moves on to compare and assess differences and similarities between different regions. Specific detailed case studies include the EU with the focus on the Baltic Sea and North Sea, the Bay of Bengal and Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The authors examine the national and regional significance of MSP from an integrated and sustainable ocean governance point of view. They also show how transboundary MSP can create opportunities and positive initiatives for cross-border cooperation and contribute to the effective protection of the regional marine environment.

This book assesses the environmental jurisdiction of coastal states over the seabed within and beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines, thus mapping out coastal states’ competencies to regulate activities impacting the marine environment of the sea floor. In addition, it offers revealing insights into the domestic legal and policy framework of a particular State in this regard. As Brazil intends to exploit mineral resources farther away offshore, technologically backed by the recognised expertise of its state-owned oil company, Petrobras, questions arise as to the adequacy of the country’s domestic legal framework to sustainably manage the immenseness of the “Brazilian Blue Amazon”. This book critically evaluates the compatibility of Brazil’s national policies and legislation with the Law of the Sea, as well as the country’s legal and institutional preparedness to face the challenges of managing approximately 4,5 million km2 of maritime spaces under national jurisdiction.

This book analyses a selection of challenges in the implementation and application of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), focusing on several areas: international organizations, fisheries, security, preserving marine biodiversity, dispute settlement, and interaction with other areas of international law. UNCLOS has been described as the Constitution for the Oceans. It sets out the fundamental rights, obligations and jurisdictions of States regarding the access to, uses and management of the oceans and seas and their resources. It balances States’ diverse and sometimes conflicting interests, such as conflicting uses of space, against navigational interests and the protection of the marine environment. UNCLOS is the first global treaty to include comprehensive obligations on the protection and preservation of the marine environment, including the conservation of living marine resources. These are often common or cross-border challenges, which can only be addressed through international cooperation. The book is divided into three thematic parts. The first concerns the role of international organizations in ocean governance. It includes twelve chapters covering a very diverse set of issues, both materially and geographically, that demonstrate the importance of coordinated actions on the part of multiple States for obtaining harmonized solutions regarding the pursuit of activities in maritime spaces (in connection with e.g. navigation, fisheries or maritime security). The second part concerns the relevance of dispute settlement mechanisms for understanding the international law of the sea and the international legal framework within which the actions of the great maritime powers take place. It is composed of three chapters, examining stakeholders’ role in dispute settlement, the position taken by China and the Russian Federation regarding international litigation in maritime spaces, and how the South China Sea Award may be relevant to the debate on the international legal concepts of rock and island. In turn, the third part addresses current discussions on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Its seven chapters report on the status quo of the ongoing negotiations for a new international legal regime of the high seas, and the establishment and operationalization of environmental regimes for international maritime spaces.

Marine Environmental Governance: From International Law to Local Practice considers the relationship between international environmental law and community-based management of marine areas. Focusing on small island states, in which indigenous populations have to a large extent continued to maintain traditional lifestyles, this book takes up the question of how indigenous customary law and state-based legislation can be reconciled in the implementation of international environmental law. Including a range of case studies, as well as detailed comparative analysis, it pursues an interdisciplinary approach to legal pluralism 'in practice' that will be of considerable interest to environmental lawyers, legal anthropologists, conservation biologists and those working in the area of community-based conservation.

This volume deals with institutions, implementation and innovations in the field of international marine environmental law. It discusses some controversial legal aspects of the marine environment in the context of UNCLOS, as a framework for national, regional and global action in the marine sector. The purpose of this work is to faithfully report scientific expertise, legal insight and policy wisdom presented by the speakers and participants at the Conference. The book identifies major aspects of the current situation and possible future developments in a critical way. Among the key issues covered are implementation and enforcement of environmental conventions; the avoidance, prevention and settlement of disputes; and, liability and compensation for environmental damage. Also included are several articles which discuss the role of the main institutions in this field within the UN system. This volume is based on contributions made at the International Conference on Marine Environmental Law (ICMEL), held by the GAUSS Institute in Bremen, Germany. There is a companion website, specially created to work alongside the texts. A selected bibliography, documents, conventions and links connected to the contents of the book are included to provide an updated and comprehensive resource for the reader: www.andreekirchner.de/imel