Introduction: Setting the Stage

Abstract

The world ocean is a giant of nature, occupying more than 70% of the Earth, adored and feared by countless civilizations. Yet, humankind has increasingly looked at the oceans as an apparently inexhaustible source of marine goods indispensable to today’s capitalistic world-system. Of the maritime zones crafted by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea—UNCLOS, the continental shelf, especially the portion extending beyond 200 nm, is one where major challenges to the sustainable governance of the oceans are expected to occur, namely the need to accommodate economic activities therein with the protection of the marine environment and the conservation of its biodiversity. Practical examples include illegal fishing for crustaceans and sedentary species; illegal marine scientific research on the continental shelf; illegal sampling of marine genetic resources; marine pollution from oil and gas exploitation activities etc. This chapter highlights the need to assess the precise implications of the extension of the continental shelf in terms of environmental duties and obligations for the coastal states, so as to, subsequently, map out the environmental jurisdiction of coastal states on the continental shelf. It also offers an insight into the domestic legal and policy framework of a particular state with respect to the management of the continental shelf, namely Brazil.