Aline L. Jaeckel, The International Seabed Authority and the Precautionary Principle: Balancing Deep Seabed Mineral Mining and Marine Environmental Protection (Leiden: Brill Nijhoff, 2017), 362 pp.

Abstract As a post-LOSC legal development, the precautionary principle is nowhere enunciated in the Law of the Sea Convention. Nevertheless, in the thirty years since the LOSC’s adoption, the significance of the precautionary principle for marine environmental protection in general and marine resource conservation in particular has been recognised. The language of precaution, the precautionary principle and the precautionary approach have entered the lexicon of the law of the sea, permeating the international community’s efforts to manage and conserve marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The challenge remains, however, of crafting and implementing management and governance regimes capable of achieving the objectives of precautionary management and turning the rhetoric of precaution into a reality.

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8 Environmental Regulation of Seabed Activities within and beyond National Jurisdiction

10.1093/law/9780198707325.003.0008 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Harrison James

Keyword(s):

Environmental Protection ◽

Legal Framework ◽

Marine Environmental Protection ◽

Future Challenges ◽

National Jurisdiction ◽

International Seabed Authority ◽

Deep Seabed Mining ◽

Seabed Mining ◽

Marine Environmental

Chapter 8 considers the regulation of seabed activities within and beyond national jurisdiction. First, the legal framework for seabed activities within national jurisdiction is examined, highlighting the central role played by coastal States, the basic rules that apply by virtue of UNCLOS, and the opportunities for supplementary global or regional rules to improve marine environmental protection. The chapter undertakes a case study of the development of rules and standards relating to the hydrocarbon industry. The chapter then turns to the regulation of seabed activities beyond national jurisdiction. In this context, UNCLOS confers significant legislative and enforcement powers on the International Seabed Authority, which acts on behalf of the international community to regulate deep-seabed mining. The chapter analyses the way in which environmental protection has been integrated into Regulations to date, and discusses future challenges remaining in this respect.

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Does the Regime Secure the Common Heritage’s Benefit-sharing and Marine Environmental Protection Components?

10.1093/oso/9780192898265.003.0007 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 199-234

Author(s):

Joanna Dingwall

Keyword(s):

Environmental Protection ◽

Benefit Sharing ◽

Common Heritage ◽

Marine Environmental Protection ◽

National Jurisdiction ◽

The Face ◽

The Common ◽

International Seabed Authority ◽

Deep Seabed Mining ◽

Marine Environmental

Chapter 6 considers whether the continuing development by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) of the regulatory framework for deep seabed mining beyond national jurisdiction is on course to secure the common heritage’s main material components of benefit sharing and marine environmental protection, in the face of increasing corporate activity. It addresses the emerging regulatory regime provided in the Draft Exploitation Regulations in relation to the planned payment mechanism and the protection of the marine environment. As Chapter 6 explains, a key measure of the regime’s ability to secure the common heritage in these respects will be the extent to which it retains regulatory flexibility to adapt to new challenges. Chapter 6 also considers the existing framework for implementation, responsibility and enforcement, as underpinned by binding dispute resolution options. It concludes by assessing the position of corporate actors in terms of each of these aspects, as robust implementation options will be vital for achievement of the common heritage.

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