1.5 Structure
From the outset, this investigation was meant to combine a research on
(i) environmental law and the law of the sea; (ii) on the outer continental shelf;
and (iii) the Brazilian marine environmental framework in the context of the
“Brazilian Blue Amazon”. That is how the investigation was split in two main titles:
1. The environmental jurisdiction of coastal states over the continental shelf; and
2. The consistency of the Brazilian marine environmental policies and legislation
with international law, in particular UNCLOS. Chapters were organized in a logical
manner, so as to facilitate the formulation of the book’s main arguments.
Hence, Chaps. 2 and 3 start the discussion by defining the object under investigation, namely the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nm. Several key
concepts to the international legal regime of the continental shelf are presented and
debated in those early pages. Subsequently, Chaps. 4, 5 and 6 dwell into the equally
core concepts of sovereignty and jurisdiction in the international law of the sea.
Those pages shed light on the complex intersections between the different regimes of
the continental shelf, high seas, EEZ and the Area, in order to justify the need for
clearer rules on coastal states’ powers on the specific zone of the continental shelf.
Furthermore, a critique against the widespread use of the phrase “creeping jurisdiction” is formulated, as a means to pave that the way for the following chapters.
Chapters 7 and 8 consist of one of the work’s two cores and scrutinize the material
extent of coastal states’ environmental jurisdiction on the continental shelf, in an
assessment which categorized environmental rights and duties in three main axes:
conservation of living resources; prevention, reduction and control of pollution
arising from the commercial development of non-living resources, and the regulation
of marine scientific research. Finally, and based on the findings reached until then,
Chaps. 9 and 10 complete the second nucleum of this work, and contain the detailed
case study of the Brazilian domestic policy and legal framework applicable to the
marine environment, as part of a broader effort to assess the country’s adequateness
to pursue the sustainable management of the “Brazilian Blue Amazon”, especially
with respect to its continental shelf.
1.6 Methodology
To answer the questions detailed above, this work has adopted the methodological
techniques of a typical interdisciplinary research in public international law. The
research techniques employed in both parts of this work include bibliographic and
documental revision. Vast literature was consulted and summarized on sustainable
development, the principle of governance of the oceans, marine environmental
jurisdiction, rights and duties of coastal states on the continental shelf, the intricacies
of the procedure to delineate the outer continental shelf, among others. Several
theories and theses have been examined, ranging from the theory of “mare nostrum”,
1.6 Methodology
13
From the outset, this investigation was meant to combine a research on
(i) environmental law and the law of the sea; (ii) on the outer continental shelf;
and (iii) the Brazilian marine environmental framework in the context of the
“Brazilian Blue Amazon”. That is how the investigation was split in two main titles:
1. The environmental jurisdiction of coastal states over the continental shelf; and
2. The consistency of the Brazilian marine environmental policies and legislation
with international law, in particular UNCLOS. Chapters were organized in a logical
manner, so as to facilitate the formulation of the book’s main arguments.
Hence, Chaps. 2 and 3 start the discussion by defining the object under investigation, namely the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nm. Several key
concepts to the international legal regime of the continental shelf are presented and
debated in those early pages. Subsequently, Chaps. 4, 5 and 6 dwell into the equally
core concepts of sovereignty and jurisdiction in the international law of the sea.
Those pages shed light on the complex intersections between the different regimes of
the continental shelf, high seas, EEZ and the Area, in order to justify the need for
clearer rules on coastal states’ powers on the specific zone of the continental shelf.
Furthermore, a critique against the widespread use of the phrase “creeping jurisdiction” is formulated, as a means to pave that the way for the following chapters.
Chapters 7 and 8 consist of one of the work’s two cores and scrutinize the material
extent of coastal states’ environmental jurisdiction on the continental shelf, in an
assessment which categorized environmental rights and duties in three main axes:
conservation of living resources; prevention, reduction and control of pollution
arising from the commercial development of non-living resources, and the regulation
of marine scientific research. Finally, and based on the findings reached until then,
Chaps. 9 and 10 complete the second nucleum of this work, and contain the detailed
case study of the Brazilian domestic policy and legal framework applicable to the
marine environment, as part of a broader effort to assess the country’s adequateness
to pursue the sustainable management of the “Brazilian Blue Amazon”, especially
with respect to its continental shelf.
1.6 Methodology
To answer the questions detailed above, this work has adopted the methodological
techniques of a typical interdisciplinary research in public international law. The
research techniques employed in both parts of this work include bibliographic and
documental revision. Vast literature was consulted and summarized on sustainable
development, the principle of governance of the oceans, marine environmental
jurisdiction, rights and duties of coastal states on the continental shelf, the intricacies
of the procedure to delineate the outer continental shelf, among others. Several
theories and theses have been examined, ranging from the theory of “mare nostrum”,
1.6 Methodology
13