Climate Change Obligations under the Law of the Sea: Interpreting UNCLOS in light of the Paris Agreement

• Main Author: Klerk, Bastiaan
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: UNCLOS; UNFCCC; Paris Agreement; COP; Law of the Sea; climate change; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10852/92200; http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-94785

Given the immense threat posed to the oceans by climate change, it is evident that effective regulatory responses are needed to mitigate these adverse effects. Problematically, however, neither the international climate change regime, nor the international law of the sea specifically address the adverse effects of climate change on the oceans. This study explores the interactions between these regimes, with a view to obtain insights in the way Part XII of UNCLOS on the protection and the preservation should be interpreted in light of the Paris Agreement. It is argued here that compliance with the due diligence obligation flowing from Part XII of UNCLOS requires, as a minimum, full compliance with the Paris Agreement. States that are not sufficiently addressing the effects of climate change on the oceans in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are even required to go beyond the Paris Agreement, by taking further measures to protect the marine environment from the adverse effects of climate change and pollution from CO2. Such measures could include, inter alia, measures to combat ocean acidification; the protection of ecosystems that are important carbon sinks such as mangroves, kelp forests and deep sea deposition areas; and enhanced scientific research on the cumulative impacts of climate change on the oceans.