may trigger legal questions, especially environment-related ones. Brazil is known for
its “territorialist” stances towards the sea, as seen previously. For that, it is paramount to assess the Brazilian legislative and institutional adequateness to manage
the extended zone, a study which has not yet been thoroughly conducted neither in
Brazil, nor abroad, and which would serve not only as legal guidelines to Brazilian
future regulations on the field, by highlighting international duties, but also identify
domestic lacunae in terms of marine environmental legislation and policies.
Within Brazilian academic circles, publications on the Blue Amazon initially
focused on international relations and politics and were dedicated to the strategical/
defense element of the Brazilian maritime space.
2 References to the societal and
environmental challenges arising from the delineation of the outer limits of the
continental shelf do exist, yet en passant.
3 This book engages, thus, with the
governance and regulation of the marine environment of the continental shelf, a
pioneering approach on this specific maritime space in Brazil, with the intention to
contribute to more effective ocean governance schemes domestically, as well as to
more updated legislations, or regulations caring for the marine environment.
This work does not aim at exhausting the comprehension of possible conflicts and
lacunae concerning the whole of the marine environment. To the contrary, it aims at
offering a detailed examination of the legal environmental treatment given to one
maritime zone within Brazil: the continental shelf.
4 Such a focus connects with the
initial inspiration to conduct this research, i.e. to assess the legal (environmental)
implications of the delineation of the outer continental shelf limits, and the potential
normative conflicts which could emerge from such extension of economic and
environmental jurisdiction seawards.
In short, this is a qualitative research, grounded on geopolitical, institutional and
legal analyses, with resort to official and officious documents, both primary and
secondary sources. The methodology employed for that end is the case study
research. Thus far, this work has laid the theoretical and factual foundations for
detailed analysis of a specific country and its normative and institutional framework.
Following up on the previous considerations, this chapter is devoted to the “intensive
2 Note that the concept of “maritime space” has different meanings in legal and international
political studies. In legal terms, “maritime spaces” are usually employed to depict the maritime
zones created by UNCLOS (territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ, continental shelf, high seas, the
Area, etc.), whereas in international relations’ papers the concept seems to acquire a broader
meaning, that of a physical medium composed of water where power relations develop. In this
sense, the “South Atlantic Ocean” is often analyzed as a relevant maritime space to be studied and
understood, and whether it may be construed as a “region” in international political terms or not. For
an example, see Hoffmann and Marcondes (2017), p. 234.
3 See generally Silva (2013), Oliveira et al. (2018) and Machado (2015).
4 This work understands that the marine environment is complex and that its regulation should adopt
a holistic and integrated perspective, and precisely this vastness and complexity calls for the
specification of the object under scrutiny, if the research is to succeed in conducting analyses and
reaching credible conclusions. In fact, every scientific study is narrowed down to the analysis of a
particular aspect of a broader whole, which does not mean it denies the need for integrated solutions
to problems affecting that particular universe.
248
9 The Environmental Dimension of the “Brazilian Blue...
its “territorialist” stances towards the sea, as seen previously. For that, it is paramount to assess the Brazilian legislative and institutional adequateness to manage
the extended zone, a study which has not yet been thoroughly conducted neither in
Brazil, nor abroad, and which would serve not only as legal guidelines to Brazilian
future regulations on the field, by highlighting international duties, but also identify
domestic lacunae in terms of marine environmental legislation and policies.
Within Brazilian academic circles, publications on the Blue Amazon initially
focused on international relations and politics and were dedicated to the strategical/
defense element of the Brazilian maritime space.
2 References to the societal and
environmental challenges arising from the delineation of the outer limits of the
continental shelf do exist, yet en passant.
3 This book engages, thus, with the
governance and regulation of the marine environment of the continental shelf, a
pioneering approach on this specific maritime space in Brazil, with the intention to
contribute to more effective ocean governance schemes domestically, as well as to
more updated legislations, or regulations caring for the marine environment.
This work does not aim at exhausting the comprehension of possible conflicts and
lacunae concerning the whole of the marine environment. To the contrary, it aims at
offering a detailed examination of the legal environmental treatment given to one
maritime zone within Brazil: the continental shelf.
4 Such a focus connects with the
initial inspiration to conduct this research, i.e. to assess the legal (environmental)
implications of the delineation of the outer continental shelf limits, and the potential
normative conflicts which could emerge from such extension of economic and
environmental jurisdiction seawards.
In short, this is a qualitative research, grounded on geopolitical, institutional and
legal analyses, with resort to official and officious documents, both primary and
secondary sources. The methodology employed for that end is the case study
research. Thus far, this work has laid the theoretical and factual foundations for
detailed analysis of a specific country and its normative and institutional framework.
Following up on the previous considerations, this chapter is devoted to the “intensive
2 Note that the concept of “maritime space” has different meanings in legal and international
political studies. In legal terms, “maritime spaces” are usually employed to depict the maritime
zones created by UNCLOS (territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ, continental shelf, high seas, the
Area, etc.), whereas in international relations’ papers the concept seems to acquire a broader
meaning, that of a physical medium composed of water where power relations develop. In this
sense, the “South Atlantic Ocean” is often analyzed as a relevant maritime space to be studied and
understood, and whether it may be construed as a “region” in international political terms or not. For
an example, see Hoffmann and Marcondes (2017), p. 234.
3 See generally Silva (2013), Oliveira et al. (2018) and Machado (2015).
4 This work understands that the marine environment is complex and that its regulation should adopt
a holistic and integrated perspective, and precisely this vastness and complexity calls for the
specification of the object under scrutiny, if the research is to succeed in conducting analyses and
reaching credible conclusions. In fact, every scientific study is narrowed down to the analysis of a
particular aspect of a broader whole, which does not mean it denies the need for integrated solutions
to problems affecting that particular universe.
248
9 The Environmental Dimension of the “Brazilian Blue...