Issue 162025

On 21st May 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued its first advisory opinion on climate change, clarifying States’ obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) but offering limited guidance on marine geoengineering – an increasingly relevant set of ocean-based interventions for carbon dioxide …More

The Houthis have attacked over one hundred merchant ships and threatened undersea cables as well as oil and gas pipelines in the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Red Sea since the Israel–Gaza conflict began in October 2023. Like the attacks in the Strait of Malacca and the earlier Somali piracy crisis, …More

The spate of rascality, such as kidnapping, piracy, terrorism, and hijacking in the maritime domain, is hampering the exploration and exploitation of the marine and blue economy globally. Nigeria has taken a cue from other maritime nations by establishing frameworks in line with various international conventions to ensure a functional blue economy and to ensure …More

Under the prevailing consensus that Articles 192 and 194(1)(2) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) constitute due diligence obligations as obligations of conduct, small island states have advocated that in the context of climate change, these provisions should go beyond the due diligence obligations and encompass obligations of result. …More

With the adoption of EU Directive 959/2023, the scope of the European Trading System (ETS) has been extended to international maritime navigation. Following a usual pattern in this régime, the Directive sets out mandatory reduction targets, made more flexible by the possibility to allocate free GHG allowances, while establishing the application of a 50% share …More