Thirty-four experts on marine affairs and the law of the sea, from six continents, examine the emerging challenges for our World Ocean. The accumulating consequences of human activities on the seas indicate that the Earth may already have entered a new epoch, the Anthropocene, dominated by the human impact. This volume analyses developments in the interface of law, technology and science in some central law-of-the-sea issue areas. These are explored systematically in sections on the World Ocean in the Anthropocene epoch (Part I); combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (Part II); combating illegal oil spills from ships (Part III); marine genetic resources and bioprospecting (Part IV); and the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines (Part V).

This book addresses emerging challenges for the World Ocean in the Anthropocene epoch and the effects of increasing globalisation on the seas. The issues explored in particular include climate change, sustainable fisheries, biodiversity, shipping and regional seas adjoining Europe.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Antarctica is poised at the edge of a warmer and busier world. Leading Antarctic researchers examine the needs and challenges of Antarctic environmental management today and tomorrow. Through: (i) investigating the impacts of human activities on specific ecosystems and species, (ii) examining existing environmental management and monitoring practices in place in various regions and (iii) interrogating stakeholders, they address the following questions: What future will Business-As-Usual bring to the Antarctic environment? Will a Business-As-Usual future be compatible with the objectives set out under the Antarctic Treaty, especially its Protocol on Environmental Protection? What actions are necessary to bring about alternative futures for the next 50 years? This volume is an outcome of the International Polar Year (2007-2009) Oslo Science Conference (8-12, June, 2010).

The deep ocean is by far the planet's largest biome and holds a wealth of potential natural assets. Human exploitation of the deep ocean is rapidly increasing whilst becoming more visible to many through the popular media, particularly film and television. The scientific literature of deep-sea exploitation and its effects has also rapidly expanded as a direct function of this increased national and global interest in exploitation of deep-sea resources, both biological (e.g. fisheries, genetic resources) and non-biological (e.g. minerals, oil, gas, methane hydrate). At the same time there is a growing interest in deep-sea contamination (including plastics), with many such studies featured in high profile scientific journals and covered by global media outlets. However, there is currently no comprehensive integration of this information in any form and these topics are only superficially covered in classic textbooks on deep-sea biology. This concise and accessible work provides an understanding of the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, both at the seafloor and in the water column, and how these might be affected as a result of human interaction, exploitation and, ultimately, environmental change. It follows a logical progression from geological and physical processes, ecology, biology, and biogeography, to exploitation, management, and conservation. Natural Capital and Exploitation of the Deep Ocean is aimed at marine biologists and ecologists, oceanographers, fisheries scientists and managers, fish biologists, environmental scientists, and conservation biologists. It will also be of relevance and use to a multi-disciplinary audience of fish and wildlife agencies, NGOs, and government departments involved in deep-sea conservation and management.

This book brings together thirteen selected papers presented in the Third International Seminar on Science and Geopolitics of Arctic-Antarctic-Himalaya, held in India in September 2015. The papers and have been grouped according to the Seminar’s three main themes: a) Geopolitics of the Polar Regions, b) Global Climate Change and Polar Regions, and c) Climate Change and Himalayan Region.

The Arctic is particularly affected by climate change; over the past few decades, temperatures in this area have risen twice as fast as the mean global rate. The most prominent effect of global climate change in the region is the melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, which enables a multitude of ocean uses to be initiated and extended, such as shipping, fishing and oil and gas extraction. Unlike in the Antarctic, there is currently no single comprehensive legal regime for governance of the Arctic. Instead, the region is regulated by a patchwork of international treaties, above all the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), various regional and sub-regional agreements, national laws and soft-law agreements. This treatise provides an evaluation of the governance regime that regulates the use of the Arctic marine environment and its readiness to protect these fragile ecosystems in light of the consequences of climate change.

This book presents innovative insights into the intersections between science, technology, and society, and particularly their regulation by the law. Departing from the idea that law and science have similar methods and objectives, the book deals with problems, and solutions, that source from these interactions: concerns on how to integrate scientific evidence into trials, how to best regulate new technologies, or whether technological innovations could improve democratic legitimacy, create new regulatory tools or even new spaces of regulation, and what is the impact on the society. The edited collection, by building on a functionalist and comparatist approach, offers answers to how to best integrate law, science, and technology in policy-making and reviews the current attempts made at the transnational and international levels. Case studies, ranging from emerging technologies via environmental protection to statistics, are complemented by a solid theoretical framework, all of which seek to provide readers with tools for critical thinking in the reassessment of the relationship among theory, practice, political goals, and international regulation.

This book examines the strength and limit of UNCLOS in regulating "modern" ocean data collection activities, and proposes possible regulatory arrangements that fill the gaps for regulation of the said activities, if any, in the Convention.

This book describes emerging and unresolved sustainability issues related to the oceans and marine environment, for policy makers, students and academics.

This book examines emerging forms of governance in the Arctic region, exploring how different types of state and non-state actors promote and support rules and standards. The authors argue that confining our understandings of Arctic governance to Arctic states and a focus on the Arctic Council as the primary site of circumpolar governance provides an incomplete picture. Instead, they embrace the complexity of governance in the Arctic by systematically analyzing and comparing the position, interventions, and influence of different actor groups seeking to shape Arctic political and economic outcomes in multiple sites of Arctic politics, both formal and informal. This book assesses the potential that sub-national governments, corporations, civil society organizations, Indigenous peoples, and non-Arctic states possess to develop norms and standards to ensure a stable, rule-based Arctic region. It will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of Arctic Sovereignty, Security Studies, Global Governance, and International Political Economy.