The South China Sea environment

Abstract

This chapter is a survey of the conjunction and interaction between the scientific, policy and legal disciplines devoted to the protection of the South China Sea’s environment. It will first assess the state of scientific research on this water body, and then explore the connexions between the results of this scientific research with the policy initiatives and legal instruments designed to address the specific pollution issues and general degradation of this semi-enclosed sea. The present study is therefore predicated on the assumption that there is a continuing need for formalised institutional cooperation on the marine scientific research efforts into this body of water as a necessary pre-requisite, inter alia, to establish the environmental baseline standards for measuring land-based sources of pollution into the South China Sea from its littoral States, as well as other pollution sources such as international shipping through this busy waterway between several of the biggest economies in the world. Such formalised institutional co-operation over marine scientific research can then form the basis for targeted policy decisions and specific legal measures designed to address the environmental threats uncovered by the concerted and collated marine scientific research on the South China Sea.