Marine geoengineering governance and the importance of compatibility with the law of the sea

Abstract

Marine geoengineering refers to proposals to counteract climate change by enhancing the ocean’s capacity to sequester carbon dioxide, or by reflecting a percentage of sunlight away from the Earth to produce a regional or global cooling effect. Prominent examples include ocean fertilization and marine cloud brightening. International law needs to be further developed to meet the governance challenges posed by marine geoengineering. This chapter considers the extent to which UNLCOS may influence the development of new international law rules for marine geoengineering. UNCLOS provides states with obligations of consistency that limit the extent to which states can derogate from their obligations under UNCLOS through subsequent agreements. Consequently, states must ensure that any new international law rules for marine geoengineering are compatible with the object and purpose of UNCLOS. Incompatible rules could result in a breach of treaty obligations and have the potential to complicate and delay negotiations.