Adapting to Climate Change in Marine and Coastal Areas: The International Legal Perspective

Research Handbook on Climate Adaptation Law, J Verschuuren, ed., Edward Elgar: UK, 2013

Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 13/01

19 Pages Posted: 21 Jan 2013

See all articles by Tim Stephens

Tim Stephens

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law

Date Written: January 20, 2013

Abstract

Human induced climate change is driving rapid biophysical changes throughout the oceans and seas that cover over two-thirds of the Earth’s surface. The most widely discussed effect of climate change in the marine and coastal environment is sea level rise, and the transformation of coastal geography poses a profound climate adaptation challenge in the longer term. Accompanying sea level rise are other more immediate climate change impacts upon coastal and marine areas. These include rapid melting of sea ice (most notably in the Arctic Ocean, where the extent of summer sea ice reached a record low in 2012), saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers (affecting water supplies), rising water temperatures (affecting the productivity and distribution of fisheries, causing algal blooms, and damaging corals), storms and storm surges (which are exacerbating erosion), and ocean acidification (the changing chemistry of the oceans damaging many marine organisms). All of these impacts can be tempered, at least to some extent and within certain time scales, by general or tailored adaptive responses at national and international levels. This chapter surveys and assesses the emerging international legal framework for the adjustment of natural and human systems in coastal, inshore and offshore marine environments in response to climate change.

Keywords: International law, climate change, marine environment, coastal areas, climate change adaptation

JEL Classification: K10, K30, K32, K33

Suggested Citation

Stephens, Tim, Adapting to Climate Change in Marine and Coastal Areas: The International Legal Perspective (January 20, 2013). Research Handbook on Climate Adaptation Law, J Verschuuren, ed., Edward Elgar: UK, 2013, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 13/01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2204148

Tim Stephens (Contact Author)

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law ( email )

New Law Building, F10
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

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