Global environmental regulation of offshore energy production: Searching for legal standards in ocean governance
| Author | Nikolaos Giannopoulos |
| Date | 01 November 2019 |
| Published date | 01 November 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12296 |
RECIEL. 2019;28:289–303.
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289
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/reel
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As the global d emand for energ y grows and scie ntific awarene ss
about the irreve rsible effe cts of climate ch ange increases , the
oceans are receiv ing remarkab le attention as a r ich source of en‐
erg y.1 According to t he International Energ y Agency (IEA), a su stain‐
able developme nt scenario, accor ding to which State s get on track
with their clima te change and ener gy access goals , requires an
additional US$ 4.6 trillion in c apital inves tment in both tr aditional
and renewable fo rms of offshore energy over th e period to 2040.2
The projecte d expansion of energ y activities at sea r aises reasonable
concerns about t heir impact on the o ceans. Traditionally, offsh ore oil
and gas exploit ation projects have bee n associated with a variet y of
environmental risks.3 Either in the form of op erational pollution, in ‐
cluding drill cu ttings, leakages of hyd rocarbons and muds, o r as acci‐
dental pollut ion resulting from ma ssive blow‐outs and col lisions with
1 TheUnitedNat ionshasbee nsupporti ngthepromot ionofrenewa bleenergyf or
achieving wo rldwide acces s to clean energ y. One initiative wo rth mentioni ng is
‘Sustain able Energy fo r All’, launched by t he Secretar y‐General B an Ki‐moon in
November2011: tps://www.sefor all.org/>.
2 IEA,‘Of fshoreEne rgyOutlo ok’(IEA2018 )44;IEA,‘ WorldEnerg yInvestme nt:
Executive Summary’ (IEA 2017) 1.
3 MGavouneli,Pollution from Offshore Installations (Graha m & Trotman 1995) 40; GE
Kwadzo Dzah, ‘R e‐conceptual izing Environm ental Governa nce in Ghana’s Of fshore Oil
andGasDevel opment’(20 15)29OceanYearb ook224,230–232;NLiu ,‘Protect ionof
theMarineEnv ironmentfr omOffsho reOilandGasAc tivitie s’inRRayfuse(e d),Research
Handbook on International Marine Environmental Law (Edward Elgar 2015) 190, 190.
Received:6Dece mber2018
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Revised:6Apr il2019
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Accepted:19May2019
DOI: 10 .1111/reel .12296
SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE
Global environmental regulation of offshore energy
production: Searching for legal standards in ocean governance
Thisisanopenac cessarticl eundertheter msoftheCreat iveCommonsAttributionLicense,whichp ermitsuse ,distribut ionandrepro ductionina nymedium,
provided the o riginal work is prop erly cited.
© 2019 The Authors . Review of European, Co mparative & Internati onal Environmenta l LawPublishedbyJo hnWiley&SonsLt d.
Email: n.giannopoulos@uu.nl The international environmental regulation of all types of energy generation activi‐
tiesat seais first andforem ostanch oredto theUnite dNations Convention onthe
LawoftheSea(UNCLOS).However,bothattheglobalandregionallevels,UNCLOS
is complemented by an array of evolving environmental agreements. These norma‐
tive developments c an put flesh on the bare bones of the gene ral (due diligence) ob‐
ligation of States to protec t the marine environment with regard to of fshore energy
activities.Paralleltobindingobligationsunderenvironmentalagreements,thereare
a variety of non‐bind ing instrument s, which can also play a key role in enriching the
content of prevention obligat ions. Depending o n their source, their f orm and the
procedure by which they a re adopted, these n on‐binding pronoun cements may be‐
come legally relevant a s interpretative guidance or stan dard of proof that a State has
exercised due diligence. I n this context, the article posit s that synergies among envi‐
ronmental instr uments and the interaction of non‐bin ding instrument s with binding
rules of internationa l law can fill the curre nt legal gaps and st rengthen the int erna‐
tional legal sta ndards for the regulation of this environme ntally sensitive sector.
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