James Harrison, Saving the Oceans through Law: The International Legal Framework for the Protection of the Marine Environment

It has been repeatedly stated that Part XII of the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the most comprehensive global environmental treaty today.1 James Harrison clearly endorses this view and sets out, in his new book, to explore and review the full extent of the environmental protection stipulated therein—and does so with aplomb. The greatest challenge the author faces is the progressive development of rules and regulations originally created more than thirty years ago, so as to address the deteriorating health of the oceans and the new priorities this engenders. Attempting to do so, the book in essence encompasses two parts: a traditional one, following the sectoral approach adopted by UNCLOS, and a more innovative one, further examining the development of international environmental law beyond UNCLOS. Chapter 2 sets out the overarching principles of environmental protection in UNCLOS. The discussion on the jurisdictional arrangements of marine environmental protection reaffirms the soundness of the essential architecture of the system. It acknowledges, however, that the UNCLOS provisions constitute the bare minimum of protection and that ‘the Convention by itself is not sufficient to offer comprehensive and effective protection of the marine environment’ (at 42) nowadays, at least not without significant detailed regulation to be found in other agreements, rules, and standards beyond the convention. The framework, within which such specific regulation is to be sought, is already set out in UNCLOS.