The Law of the Seabed by Banet, Catherine;

Short description:

The Law of the Seabed offers a timely analysis of the most pressing legal questions raised by the use and protection of natural resources on and underneath the world?s seabeds.

Long description:

The Law of the Seabed reviews the most pressing legal questions raised by the use and protection of natural resources on and underneath the world?s seabeds.

While barely accessible, the seabed plays a major role in the Earth?s ecological balance. It is both a medium and a resource, and is central to the blue economy. New uses and new knowledge about seabed ecosystems, and the risks of disputes due to competing interests, urge reflection on which regulatory approaches to pursue.

The regulation of ocean activities is essentially sector-based, and the book puts in parallel the international and national regimes for seabed mining, oil and gas, energy generation, bottom fisheries, marine genetic resources, carbon sequestration and maritime security operations, both within and beyond the national jurisdiction.

The book contains seven parts respectively addressing the definition of the seabed from a multidisciplinary perspective, the principles of jurisdiction delimitation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the regimes for use of non-living, living and marine biodiversity resources, the role of state and non-state actors, the laying and removal of installations, the principles for sustainable and equitable use (common heritage of mankind, precaution, benefit sharing), and management tools to ensure coexistence between activities as well as the protection of the marine environment.

"This space where fewer men have walked than on the moon is crucially important for human societies. If it is becoming the object of growing industrial appetites, it is also the crucible of a life that is as surprising as it is fragile and which undoubtedly holds part of our future. To manage it is therefore a priority, to avoid destroying it before even knowing it. This book allows us to take stock, with the hindsight that the scientific approach offers us. We need to welcome it." - Isabelle Autissier, sailor, navigator, writer, President of WWF-France



"This book will be an indispensable tool for future legal research. It covers, with a contemporary legal and multi-disciplinary approach, the seabed beyond and within national jurisdiction focusing more on the regimes than on the limits of the seabed zones. Environmental aspects, new utilizations and conflicting uses of the seabed play an important role. Unusually, domestic practice is also considered. The book shows that the on-going negotiation on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction cannot be seen in isolation. The Norwegian and international team of authors and the editor have done an outstanding work on a very topical subject." -Tullio Treves, Former judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Professor Emeritus, State University of Milan, Italy

Table of Contents:

Preface

 Rolf Einar Fife

List of Illustrations

List of Abbreviations

Notes on Contributors

Introduction: The Law of the Seabed

 Catherine Banet

part 1: Defining the Seabed

part 2: Delimitation of Jurisdiction Over the Seabed and Right to Its Resources

part 3: Exploitation of Non
-Living Resources from the Seabed beyond National Jurisdiction

part 4: Exploitation of Marine Biodiversity and Living Resources on the Seabed beyond National Jurisdiction

part 5: Principles Applicable to Sovereign States When Exploiting Seabed Resources within National Jurisdiction

part 6: Building, Operating and Removing Installations on and under the Seabed

part 7: Conflicting Uses or Coexistence, Resolving Mechanisms and Protection Regimes: Towards a More Integrated Approach