safety in the Blue Amazon directly contribute to the environmental conservation of
the area. Although that may be true, as measures adopted with respect to controlling
vessel-source pollution may also be construed as increasing safety of navigation, one
should first define the scope of “navigational safety measures”. By doing so, it is
intended to avoid a confusion between both objectives (safety and environmental
protection) and worse, the cooptation of ecological concerns by the much specific
commandment of navigational safety.
152 For instance, the Brazilian Navy’s website
which is dedicated to the environmental dimension of the Blue Amazon clearly
emphasizes safety of navigation over any other criterion for the principled environmental management of the Blue Amazon—a somewhat misleading approach. No
matter how relevant navigational safety measures may be for the peaceful use and
management of the marine spaces under national jurisdiction, that element certainly
does not exhaust environmental concerns over marine ecosystems. For that reason,
considerations on safe navigation emerge only sporadically in this work, in connection with challenges for the environmental management of the Brazilian Blue
Amazon.
Of the variety of maritime spaces calling for environmental protection, this work
focuses on the regulation of the continental shelf in light of the expansion of
domestic jurisdiction seaward. For Brazil, an extended continental shelf implies
not only wealth and geopolitical clout, but also increased duties and responsibilities,
what makes it reasonable for the attentive and concerned viewer to expect more
conflicts of uses of Brazilian and international maritime zones. In the legal environmental field, attention should thus be paid to upholding substantive and procedural
obligations related to the prevention of environmental damage, transboundary damage, preventive actions, protection of the marine and marine environment, precaution, pollution control due to several factors, among other topics, all of which
examined in detail in Chap. 10.
Despite the hierarchy between the Blue Amazon’s dimensions, the “lower” status
of environmental considerations within the Brazilian interest’s equation does not
constitute a hindrance to the current study, but to the contrary, it is yet another
motivation for grappling with this topic. In Brazilian academia, works proliferate on
the security and geopolitical aspects of the that region, but reduced attention has
been dedicated to assessing the adequateness of the Brazilian legal and institutional
frameworks to tackle the massive challenge of managing the seafloor of the vast Blue
Amazon, while respecting international environmental obligations set out in the law
of the sea and environmental legal instruments.
152 The Prestige disaster, in 2003, highlighted the interlink between the topics of safety of navigation and protection of vulnerable ecosystems.
9.2 The Brazilian Extended Continental Shelf: A Larger Blue Amazon
289
the area. Although that may be true, as measures adopted with respect to controlling
vessel-source pollution may also be construed as increasing safety of navigation, one
should first define the scope of “navigational safety measures”. By doing so, it is
intended to avoid a confusion between both objectives (safety and environmental
protection) and worse, the cooptation of ecological concerns by the much specific
commandment of navigational safety.
152 For instance, the Brazilian Navy’s website
which is dedicated to the environmental dimension of the Blue Amazon clearly
emphasizes safety of navigation over any other criterion for the principled environmental management of the Blue Amazon—a somewhat misleading approach. No
matter how relevant navigational safety measures may be for the peaceful use and
management of the marine spaces under national jurisdiction, that element certainly
does not exhaust environmental concerns over marine ecosystems. For that reason,
considerations on safe navigation emerge only sporadically in this work, in connection with challenges for the environmental management of the Brazilian Blue
Amazon.
Of the variety of maritime spaces calling for environmental protection, this work
focuses on the regulation of the continental shelf in light of the expansion of
domestic jurisdiction seaward. For Brazil, an extended continental shelf implies
not only wealth and geopolitical clout, but also increased duties and responsibilities,
what makes it reasonable for the attentive and concerned viewer to expect more
conflicts of uses of Brazilian and international maritime zones. In the legal environmental field, attention should thus be paid to upholding substantive and procedural
obligations related to the prevention of environmental damage, transboundary damage, preventive actions, protection of the marine and marine environment, precaution, pollution control due to several factors, among other topics, all of which
examined in detail in Chap. 10.
Despite the hierarchy between the Blue Amazon’s dimensions, the “lower” status
of environmental considerations within the Brazilian interest’s equation does not
constitute a hindrance to the current study, but to the contrary, it is yet another
motivation for grappling with this topic. In Brazilian academia, works proliferate on
the security and geopolitical aspects of the that region, but reduced attention has
been dedicated to assessing the adequateness of the Brazilian legal and institutional
frameworks to tackle the massive challenge of managing the seafloor of the vast Blue
Amazon, while respecting international environmental obligations set out in the law
of the sea and environmental legal instruments.
152 The Prestige disaster, in 2003, highlighted the interlink between the topics of safety of navigation and protection of vulnerable ecosystems.
9.2 The Brazilian Extended Continental Shelf: A Larger Blue Amazon
289