152
J. Wang
destruction. Many observations show that the marine environment is under serious
threat: there is a substantial loss in marine diversity;
2 the world’s coral reefs are dying
at alarming rate;
3 31.5% of fish stocks are at a biologically unsustainable level
4 and
the problem of marine litter has steadily grown worse. It is anticipated that there will
be more plastic litter than fish by weight by 2025.
5 Marine environmental degradation
is a major current global problem of common concern.
Since the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment first put
forward the legal protection of the marine environment at the global level,
6 the
international community has made progressive development of legal framework for
the marine environment. The growing concern for the condition of the oceans has
been identified as one of the most remarkable developments in the field of international law in the latter half of the twentieth century.
7 In addition to the 1982 United
nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) which provides the general rules
on State’s obligations of marine protection,
8 a number of treaties were concluded
to regulate specific human activities with the aim to prevent pollution and conserve
marine resources, such as the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by
Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention),
9 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78),
10 the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling
Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (the Fish Stock Agreement)
11 and the
International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
12
Be aware of the inadequacy of regulatory framework in areas beyond national
jurisdiction, a new international legal binging instrument—the agreement under the
LOSC on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national
jurisdiction is now under negotiation.
13
7 Howard S. Schiffman, International Law and the Protection of the Marine Environment, available
at https://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C14/E1-36-02-03.pdf, last accessed 1 June 2020.
8 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 December 1982, 1833U.N.T.S. 396.
9 London Convention was ratified in 1972, and it provides provisions to regulate ocean dumping.
10 The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships 1973 as modified by
the Protocol of 1978, MARPOL 73/78 aims to minimize both accidental and routine operational
pollution from ships.
11 The 1995 Fish Stock Agreement was ratified in 1995 and entry into force in 2001. As the implementation agreement of the LOSC, it was concluded with the aim to address the shortcomings of
the LOSC in the field of regulating fisheries activities in the high sea. See Tore Henriksen, Geir
HØnneland and Are Sydnes, Law and Politics in Ocean Governance: The UN Fish Stocks Agreement
and Regional Fisheries Management Regime,Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2006, p. 14.
12 The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed in 1946 and it provides a
legally binding schedule for conservation of whale stocks by setting out catch limits for commercial
and aboriginal subsistence whaling. The text is available at https://iwc.int/convention, last accessed
18 January 2020.
13 United Nations Assembly adopted Resolution 69/292 in 2015 and decided to develop an international legal binding instrument under the LOSC on the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The new instrument will address the four-package
J. Wang
destruction. Many observations show that the marine environment is under serious
threat: there is a substantial loss in marine diversity;
2 the world’s coral reefs are dying
at alarming rate;
3 31.5% of fish stocks are at a biologically unsustainable level
4 and
the problem of marine litter has steadily grown worse. It is anticipated that there will
be more plastic litter than fish by weight by 2025.
5 Marine environmental degradation
is a major current global problem of common concern.
Since the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment first put
forward the legal protection of the marine environment at the global level,
6 the
international community has made progressive development of legal framework for
the marine environment. The growing concern for the condition of the oceans has
been identified as one of the most remarkable developments in the field of international law in the latter half of the twentieth century.
7 In addition to the 1982 United
nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) which provides the general rules
on State’s obligations of marine protection,
8 a number of treaties were concluded
to regulate specific human activities with the aim to prevent pollution and conserve
marine resources, such as the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by
Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention),
9 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78),
10 the 1995 Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on
the Law of the Sea Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling
Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (the Fish Stock Agreement)
11 and the
International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
12
Be aware of the inadequacy of regulatory framework in areas beyond national
jurisdiction, a new international legal binging instrument—the agreement under the
LOSC on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national
jurisdiction is now under negotiation.
13
7 Howard S. Schiffman, International Law and the Protection of the Marine Environment, available
at https://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C14/E1-36-02-03.pdf, last accessed 1 June 2020.
8 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 December 1982, 1833U.N.T.S. 396.
9 London Convention was ratified in 1972, and it provides provisions to regulate ocean dumping.
10 The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships 1973 as modified by
the Protocol of 1978, MARPOL 73/78 aims to minimize both accidental and routine operational
pollution from ships.
11 The 1995 Fish Stock Agreement was ratified in 1995 and entry into force in 2001. As the implementation agreement of the LOSC, it was concluded with the aim to address the shortcomings of
the LOSC in the field of regulating fisheries activities in the high sea. See Tore Henriksen, Geir
HØnneland and Are Sydnes, Law and Politics in Ocean Governance: The UN Fish Stocks Agreement
and Regional Fisheries Management Regime,Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2006, p. 14.
12 The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was signed in 1946 and it provides a
legally binding schedule for conservation of whale stocks by setting out catch limits for commercial
and aboriginal subsistence whaling. The text is available at https://iwc.int/convention, last accessed
18 January 2020.
13 United Nations Assembly adopted Resolution 69/292 in 2015 and decided to develop an international legal binding instrument under the LOSC on the conservation and sustainable use of marine
biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. The new instrument will address the four-package