9 Addressing the Marine Environmental Impacts of Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

Abstract Chapter 9 addresses the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on the marine environment and the extent to which international law has reacted to this emerging threat to the ecological integrity of the oceans. These issues are particularly challenging to regulate because of their wide-ranging causes and effects. This chapter, therefore, takes into account both how the global legal regime relating to climate change, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, has taken into account the oceans, as well as how sectoral treaties dealing with specific maritime activities have addressed climate change and ocean acidification within their normative framework. In this latter respect, the chapter focuses on the global regulation of carbon emissions from shipping and the way in which the international community has responded to proposed carbon sequestration activities at sea, including sub-seabed storage and geo-engineering.