SVKMs NMIMS

School of Law, Mumbai

Synopsis Submitted
On
CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAW OF THE
SEAS

In compliance to partial fulfillment of the marking

scheme, for Trimester 9 of 2016-2017, in the subject of
PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW
Submitted
To
Professor
for evaluation

MUDIT SINGH CHAUHAN

A061
BBA LLB (H)
INTRODUCTION:
For centuries, the law of sea was based on the concept of freedom of the seas, with
nations' control of the oceans limited to narrow bands adjacent to their coasts. It was
primarily based on customary law; international agreements were likely to involve a
small number of states or cover a particular region. By the middle of the twentieth
century, as the nations increased their capability to engage in long range fishing and
commercial extraction, concerns arose about pollution and the exhaustibility of ocean
resources. In addition, the concept of freedom of the seas was eroding, as many
nations had asserted sovereignty over wider areas, claiming rights to the resources of
the continental shelf and the water above. It became necessary to develop a treaty-
based regime for ocean governance. A series of United Nations conferences on the
law of the sea, convened in 1958, 1960 and 1973-1982, produced a number of treaty
agreements and the Third Conference culminated in the adoption in 1982 of a
comprehensive treaty instrument, the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) creates a
comprehensive regime governing the rights of nations with respect to the world's
oceans. The convention addresses a number of topics, including economic zones of
the sea, the continental shelf, rights to the deep seabed, navigational rights in
territorial and high seas, conservation and management of the living resources of the
sea, protection and preservation of the marine environment, and others. Procedures for
the resolution of disputes are included. The convention is comprised of 320 articles
and nine annexes.

In addition to the global agreements, ocean law is controlled by a number of regional

and specialized treaty instruments, covering topics such as the peaceful use of the sea,
maritime space, conservation and management of living resources
REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
The development of the climate change regime in the late 1980s and early 1990s rode
a wave of environmental activity, which began in 1987 with the discovery of the
stratospheric ozone hole and the publication of the Brundtland Commission report,
Our Common Future (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987),
and crested at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. An earlier wave of international environmental activity,
culminating in the 1972 Stockholm Conference and the establishment several years
later of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), had tended to focus on
local, acute, and relatively reversible forms of pollutionfor example, oil spills and
dumping of hazardous wastes at seaby regulating particular pollutants.
Daniel Bodansky

The author in this article has delved into the development of the climate change
regime. He further has talked about UNCED, UNEP and UNCLOS and their
importanceintodaystime.

The Law of the Sea Convention was successful in attaining a compromise on the
needs and desires of all nations, developed and developing, coastal and landlocked,
by balancing the freedom of the seas with territorial sovereignty and the protection of
the marine environment. Unlike its predecessors, the 1982 Convention seems to have
established, once and for all, the parameters for establishing stable borders in the
oceans [...].91 The starting point or rather, line for the distinct maritime zones is
the baseline, generally defined as the low-water line along the coast92 or, in the case
of islands or atolls with fringing reefs, the seaward low-water line of the reef
Matthew Conan

The author in this article has discussed about success of The Law of the Sea
Conventionandhastalkedabouthowitisdifferentfromitspredecessors.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The oceans play a vital role in the global climate system, generating oxygen and
absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while also providing essential goods
and services for sustaining life on Earth. Changes to the climate, brought about by
increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, will thus lead to changes in
the oceans, including sea-level rise and ocean acidification, which will put marine
ecosystems and coastal communities at risk

The General Assembly has reiterated its serious concern over the current and projected
adverse effects of climate change on the marine environment and marine biodiversity,
and it has emphasized the urgency of addressing this issue. It has also expressed its
concern over the current and projected adverse effects of climate change on food
security and the sustainability of fisheries. More specifically, the General Assembly
has reiterated its deep concern over the vulnerability of the environment and the
fragile ecosystems of the polar regions, including the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic ice
cap, particularly affected by the projected adverse effects of climate change.

This paper will be dealing about causes of climate change and projections on climate
change. Furthermore climate change and law of the sea convention along with
pollution of the marine environment in context of climate change would be dealt with.

OBJECTIVES
TounderstandwhatClimatechangeisandthecausesofthesame
Tostudythe rules relevant to the application and interpretation of the Law of
the Sea Convention
To understand the sources and effects of pollution of the marine environment

METHODOLOGY

Thisresearchprojecthasfollowedthedoctrinalmethodofresearch,whichrequires
the researcher to acquire, arrange and then understand the data that is already
availableinthepublicdomain.1Hence,thisisasecondarymethodofdatacollection.

1 Roderick, M. (2014), Source-usage within doctrinal legal inquiry:

choices, problems, and challenges
<http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/06/RE
NM-D-13-00003> Accessed on 29th November, 2016.
HYPOTHESIS:
Change in the Sea Level rise has a direct impact on the maritime boundaries and
zones of many nations and with it, the scope, purpose and value of the Law of the Sea
Convention

RESEARCHQUESTION:
What is the physical impact of sea level rise on island nations?
What are the rules relevant to the application and interpretation of the Law of
the Sea Convention?
What are the sources and effects of pollution of the marine environment?

TENTATIVE CHAPTERISATION

CHAPTER1:INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER2:CLIMATE CHANGE
CHAPTER3:CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE LAW OF THE SEA CONVENTION
CHAPTER4: POLLUTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT IN THE
CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
CHAPTER5:CONCLUSION
CHAPTER6:BIBLIOGRAPHY