Draft convention on deterioration of the marine environment as a result of exploration and exploitation of the seabed and its subsoil in maritime areas under the National Jurisdiction of States*

1978 ◽  
Vol 4 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 137-140
Keyword(s):  
Marine Environment ◽  
Exploration And Exploitation ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Draft Convention

Environmental Assessment in Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Practice and Prospects

2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 252-255
Author(s):  
Robin Warner
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Marine Pollution ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Marine Areas

Knowledge of the threats posed to the oceans by human activity has expanded beyond marine pollution to encompass recognition of the risks posed to vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) by overfishing, destructive fisheries practices, and invasive exploitation of living and nonliving marine resources. However, with the still-developing state of marine scientific research, the majority of activities at sea continue to occur with limited knowledge of their impacts on the marine environment. In this climate of uncertainty, environmental assessment assumes heightened importance. While governance structures will generally exist to facilitate environmental assessment in marine areas within national jurisdiction, these structures are still developing for marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).

scholarly journals The High Seas Freedom to Lay Submarine Cables and the Protection of the Marine Environment: Challenges in High Seas Governance

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 139-143
Author(s):  
Tara Davenport
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Law ◽  
Uncertain Future ◽  
Submarine Cables ◽  
High Seas

The freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines, one of the most venerated high seas freedoms under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), faces an uncertain future under the new international legally binding instrument (ILBI) being negotiated in the United Nations. UN General Assembly Resolution 72/249, authorizing the intergovernmental conference for the new ILBI, does not expressly mention submarine cables or pipelines but states that “the work and results of the conference should be fully consistent with the provisions of” UNCLOS. The issues in a new ILBI that are likely to have an impact on the freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines in areas beyond national jurisdiction are (1) area-based management tools, and (2) environmental impact assessments (EIAs), which are mechanisms used to protect and preserve the marine environment and biodiversity. The challenge for high seas governance (and indeed, the perennial challenge for the law of the sea) is how to balance these two ostensibly competing, but equally valuable, interests: the protection of the marine environment and biodiversity and the high seas freedom to lay submarine cables in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Maritime Spatial Planning and Protection of the Marine Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-336
Author(s):  
Irini Papanicolopulu
Keyword(s):  
Marine Environment ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Zone Management ◽  
Current State ◽  
Environmental Status ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Good Environmental Status ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Maritime Spatial Planning

Abstract Protection and preservation of the marine environment is a priority under international law, as codified and further developed in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Nonetheless, the current state of the marine environment questions whether the approach adopted in the UNCLOS and other legal instruments, whereby each type of pollution is addressed separately, really suffices to ensure good environmental status. For this reason, new tools have been developed, including marine (or maritime) spatial planning (MSP) and integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). This article discusses MSP and its role in ensuring protection of the marine environment, both within and beyond areas under national jurisdiction.

scholarly journals Oceans beyond Boundaries: Environmental Assessment Frameworks

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 481-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Warner
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Marine Areas

Abstract The obligation to conduct environmental impact assessment (EIA) of activities with the potential for significant impact on the marine environment within and beyond national jurisdiction has attained customary international law status. The related but broader process of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is also applied to plans, policies and programmes with the potential for significant impact on the marine environment in many national jurisdictions and in a transboundary context. The application of EIA and SEA for activities with the potential for significant impact on marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) has been much more ad hoc. This commentary reviews the initiatives being taken by the international community to develop a more comprehensive legal and institutional framework for EIA and SEA of activities affecting ABNJ. It examines the role of sectoral environmental assessment in ABNJ, as well as the potential role of global guidelines for EIA and SEA of activities affecting ABNJ.

Challenges to Protecting the Marine Environment beyond National Jurisdiction

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 839-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina M. Gjerde
Keyword(s):  
Marine Environment ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Human History ◽  
Global Community ◽  
The Past ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Law

Abstract In the past thirty years since the signing of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), the ocean has changed more than in all of human history before. It is now facing a multitude of interconnected threats that require comprehensive, precautionary and integrated management. This review of the environmental provisions in Part XII of the LOSC with respect to the high seas and the seabed area beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) reveals significant strengths as well as substantial weaknesses and gaps. Governments are now grappling with how to address problems related to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in ABNJ. This commentary concludes that Part XII will need strengthening, including through an implementing agreement, to enable the global community to cope with the escalating challenges of a changing ocean.

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