Protection of the Marine Environment from Climate-Related Pollution under the Law of the Sea Regime

About the project

Climate change has led to unprecedented problems for the international community and is having increasing effects on the oceans and marine environment. This project endeavors to offer the first comprehensive assessment of international obligations pertaining to the enforcement and litigation of substantive obligations concerning the protection of the marine environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. It will focus on the prevention, reduction, and control of climate-related pollution. It will explore the capacity and interaction of the relevant treaties involved in enforcing obligations, how the explicit and implicit obligations found in the relevant treaties can be litigated, the consequences of breaching these obligations, and the rules governing liability and attribution. All relevant conventions that regulate dispute settlement in the law of the sea regime will be analysed as well as their relationship with the climate regime and traditional rules on State responsibility. The relevance of the climate regime for the interpretation of obligations under the law of the sea, including the possibility of litigating climate-related obligations under part XII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will be assessed. Finally, the project will discuss the impact of soft law adopted by the International Maritime Organisation on obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and examine regime interactions.