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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2018

Robin Warner
Robin Warner*
Affiliation:
Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong, Australia.
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Extract

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).

Type
Regulating the Global Commons: The BBNJ Negotiations and Ocean Spaces Beyond National Jurisdiction
Information
Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting , Volume 111 , 2017 , pp. 252 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © by The American Society of International Law 2018 

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References

1 In these remarks, the term “environmental assessment” is used to refer to all facets of measuring the impact of human activities on the environment. This includes the typical process of prior environmental impact assessment (EIA) and extends to and through postactivity monitoring of environmental impacts. Within those processes the term environmental assessment also encompasses the conduct of environmental baseline studies and the measurement of single as well as cumulative impacts on marine environments over time. Cross-jurisdictional application of EIA and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of plans, programs, and policies likely to impact the marine environment over longer periods and broader geographical areas are also included in the term environmental assessment.

2 Marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) include both the high seas water column and the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction (the Area).

3 These instruments include the regional seas conventions, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol), the UN Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA), and the International Seabed Authority's Regulations for exploration contractors.

4 Marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) include both the high seas water column and the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction (the Area).

5 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, Arts. 5(d) and 6(3)(d), Aug. 4, 1995.

6 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Guidelines for the Management of Deep Sea Fisheries in the High Seas (2009), available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/0816t/0816t00.htm.

7 London Convention, Art. IV & Annex III, available at http://www5.imo.org/SharePoint/blastDataHelper.asp/data_id%3D16925/LC1972.pdf.

8 London Protocol, Art. 4 & Annex 2, available at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/2006/11.html.

9 Report of the Working Group on the Proposed Amendment to the London Protocol to Regulate Placement of Matter for Ocean Fertilization and Other Marine Geo-engineering Activities, LC Doc 35/WP.3 (Oct. 17, 2013); Philomene Verlaan, Current Legal Developments: London Convention and London Protocol, 28 Int'l J. Marine & Coastal L. 729 (2013).

10 Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, July 28, 1996, 33 ILM 1309, Annex, para. 7; International Seabed Authority, Regulations for Prospecting and Exploration of Polymetallic Nodules (Polymetallic Nodule Regulations), 18(c) and (d), available at http://www.isa.org.jm/files/documents/EN/Regs/PN-en.pdf.

11 International Seabed Authority, Legal and Technical Commission, Recommendations for the Guidance of Contractors for the Assessment of the Possible Environmental Impacts Arising from Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules in the Area, available at http://www.isa.org.jm/files/documents/EN/7Sess/LTC/isba_7ltc_1Rev1.pdf, para. 10.

12 International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, Advisory Opinion on Responsibilities and Obligations of States Sponsoring Persons and Entities with Respect to Activities in the Area (Feb. 1, 2011), available at http://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/case_no_17/adv_op_010211.pdf, paras. 141–43; Regulations for Prospecting and Exploration of Polymetallic Nodules in the Area (Polymetallic Nodule Regulations), available at https://www.isa.org.jm/sites/default/files/files/documents/isba-19c-17_0.pdf, Regulation 31(6); Regulations for Prospecting and Exploration of Polymetallic Sulphides in the Area (Polymetallic Sulphides Regulations), available at https://www.isa.org.jm/sites/default/files/files/documents/isba-16a-12rev1_0.pdf, Regulation 33(6).