Russian submission, when responses from Denmark, Japan, Canada and the United
States have emphasized the impossibility of the affected neighboring states to
confirm the lawfulness of the Russian claims and its consistency with the criteria
set out in Art. 76 UNCLOS.
Upon knowledge that UNCLOS would permit the delineation of outer continental
shelf limits beyond the default length of 200 nm, Brazil did not waste time and
created LEPLAC almost simultaneously with domestic ratification of the Convention, thus portraying the relevance of the continental shelf to the Brazilian interests.
The operationalization of the continental shelf Plan also emphasized Brazil’s determinacy in asserting jurisdiction far offshore in the South Atlantic Ocean. Ultimately,
the measure was inspired by a mix of geopolitical ambitions and the prospect of
future economic benefits.
103 LEPLAC mirrored a country zealous of its authority
seawards, even if it did not stand at its best moment in economic and financial
terms—the 1980s are known in Brazilian political science literature as the “lost
decade”, given the successive economic crises, hyperinflation and several emergency changes of currency.
Still in the international arena, Brazilian expertise acquired while collecting
scientific data and preparing its CLCS submissions has been shared with other
neighbors in the South Atlantic Ocean. One such country is Namibia, which has
counted on consultancy from Brazilian experts to draft its own proposal.
104 Such a
conduct is the outcome of the Brazilian Decree establishing LEPLAC, which refers
to “intrinsic relevance of knowledge gained throughout the procedure of data
collection”.
105 During the Lula da Silva presidency, Brazil was keen on stimulating
the development of regional potentialities, by offering help to neighboring countries
in following a similar path—a cooperative posture that sought to repulse the
undesired interference of foreign naval powers in the South Atlantic Ocean.
9.2.2 Status of the Brazilian Submissions
Phase II LEPLAC began in 2008 and collected approximately 440,000 km of
geophysical data. After the CLCS’s denial of 21% of the country’s initial submission, Brazil opted for drafting and submitting three partial revised submissions. On
10 April 2015, the Subpart of the Southern Region was submitted to the CLCS, upon
five meetings with the Commission’s Subcommittee responsible for entertaining the
Brazilian submission, made up of experts from Angola, Chile, South Korea, Denmark, Japan and Nigeria. On 8 September 2017, the Subpart of the Brazilian
Equatorial Margin followed suit,
106 a move confirmed by the 2018 letter of the
103 This opinion is shared by Zanella (2017), p. 411.
104 Namibia’s submission to the CLCS, 13 May 2009. See Moller (2003), p. 248.
105 Marinha do Brasil, LEPLAC, 11.
106 The second Brazilian revised submission contains: an introduction to the physiography of the
Equatorial Margin, a detailed description of the regional morphology, the methodologies applied to
9.2 The Brazilian Extended Continental Shelf: A Larger Blue Amazon
275
States have emphasized the impossibility of the affected neighboring states to
confirm the lawfulness of the Russian claims and its consistency with the criteria
set out in Art. 76 UNCLOS.
Upon knowledge that UNCLOS would permit the delineation of outer continental
shelf limits beyond the default length of 200 nm, Brazil did not waste time and
created LEPLAC almost simultaneously with domestic ratification of the Convention, thus portraying the relevance of the continental shelf to the Brazilian interests.
The operationalization of the continental shelf Plan also emphasized Brazil’s determinacy in asserting jurisdiction far offshore in the South Atlantic Ocean. Ultimately,
the measure was inspired by a mix of geopolitical ambitions and the prospect of
future economic benefits.
103 LEPLAC mirrored a country zealous of its authority
seawards, even if it did not stand at its best moment in economic and financial
terms—the 1980s are known in Brazilian political science literature as the “lost
decade”, given the successive economic crises, hyperinflation and several emergency changes of currency.
Still in the international arena, Brazilian expertise acquired while collecting
scientific data and preparing its CLCS submissions has been shared with other
neighbors in the South Atlantic Ocean. One such country is Namibia, which has
counted on consultancy from Brazilian experts to draft its own proposal.
104 Such a
conduct is the outcome of the Brazilian Decree establishing LEPLAC, which refers
to “intrinsic relevance of knowledge gained throughout the procedure of data
collection”.
105 During the Lula da Silva presidency, Brazil was keen on stimulating
the development of regional potentialities, by offering help to neighboring countries
in following a similar path—a cooperative posture that sought to repulse the
undesired interference of foreign naval powers in the South Atlantic Ocean.
9.2.2 Status of the Brazilian Submissions
Phase II LEPLAC began in 2008 and collected approximately 440,000 km of
geophysical data. After the CLCS’s denial of 21% of the country’s initial submission, Brazil opted for drafting and submitting three partial revised submissions. On
10 April 2015, the Subpart of the Southern Region was submitted to the CLCS, upon
five meetings with the Commission’s Subcommittee responsible for entertaining the
Brazilian submission, made up of experts from Angola, Chile, South Korea, Denmark, Japan and Nigeria. On 8 September 2017, the Subpart of the Brazilian
Equatorial Margin followed suit,
106 a move confirmed by the 2018 letter of the
103 This opinion is shared by Zanella (2017), p. 411.
104 Namibia’s submission to the CLCS, 13 May 2009. See Moller (2003), p. 248.
105 Marinha do Brasil, LEPLAC, 11.
106 The second Brazilian revised submission contains: an introduction to the physiography of the
Equatorial Margin, a detailed description of the regional morphology, the methodologies applied to
9.2 The Brazilian Extended Continental Shelf: A Larger Blue Amazon
275