
United Kingdom
Maritime Law and Climate Change

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Introduction
Climate change has wide-ranging implications for maritime law. The ocean is vulnerable to many climate risks, and sea level rises are a direct consequence of rising emissions. Industries which rely on the ocean are also a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, and governments have begun taking efforts to address emissions in these sectors. The links between climate change and the ocean have not only led to the development of new treaties and initiatives but also have clear impacts on longstanding maritime law concepts. In addition to being subject to these international agreements, the UK government has introduced domestic policy measures addressing specific climate-related maritime issues.
- Climate change is having a significant impact on oceans, which in turn influences the legal frameworks which govern them. These impacts include rising sea levels, which may shift the maritime zones established by reference to low-tide baselines under the UNCLOS.
- Obligations to reduce marine pollution may also apply to climate change’s negative impacts on the ocean. This was confirmed in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s recent advisory opinion which asserted that, under UNCLOS, states have a duty to address climate change.
- The UK is party to international agreements which aim to limit the impact of shipping on climate change and is also influenced by the International Maritime Organization’s climate policy. There have also been efforts to better integrate maritime issues in broader climate change treaties.
- In response to these issues, the UK government has introduced a range of policy measures aimed at reducing maritime emissions. The Clean Maritime Plan sets out ambitions for policy in this area, which include investment in technological development and the expansion of the UK ETS to cover domestic maritime transport.
How Climate Change is Impacting Maritime Law
UNCLOS and Rising Baselines
The UK is a party to various international treaties[1] that govern its obligations regarding maritime law. The most prominent of these is the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS). While UNCLOS requires States to “protect and preserve the marine environment,”[2] it lacks the necessary detail to provide States with a comprehensive framework as to how to protect marine environments and combat climate change.[3] UNCLOS does not directly mention climate change, nor hint at how the treaty might adapt to new issues generated by climate change, such as rising sea levels. Other weaknesses of UNCLOS, as identified by the House of Lords Select Committee, include inadequate attention given to biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, the regulation of access to maritime resources, and the development of new maritime technologies.[4]
Rising sea levels pose a substantial challenge to current maritime law under UNCLOS. Under the treaty, maritime zones are determined using low-tide baselines that, at the time of drafting, were not expected to be significantly altered. However, as warming temperatures contribute to rising sea levels, “the low-water line of many coasts will move inwards” which could affect the ability of certain states to exercise their sovereignty more so than others.[5] This phenomenon will also likely impact the UK’s own EEZ. A study examining the effects of climate change on commercial fish distribution predicts that “by 2060, suitable habitat in the UK EEZ is projected to decrease substantially as the species’ distribution shifts northward”.[6] A decrease in viable commercial fish stocks will negatively impact the economic value of the EEZ.
Additionally, as sea levels rise, baselines will shift and some islands will become completely submerged, raising difficult sovereignty related questions, particularly when it comes to which state has the right to access resources.[7] The UK has been unclear about how it will respond to the issue of rising sea levels, stating that:
“Given the complexity of the issue and the implications for navigational rights and the integrity of UNCLOS, the Government intends to take a cautious approach to the question of whether baselines should be fixed in place in the face of climate change induced sea-level rise.”[8]
The UK is unlikely to be insulated from this effect. Models show that the global sea level is rising on average 3.3 millimetres per year and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that this rate will increase as climate change intensifies.[9] Southwest England is being affected by this phenomenon the most, which is “sinking at a rate of about 0.6 millimetres per year.” Additionally, in 2018, the UK’s Climate Change Committee predicted that by 2080, “up to 1.5 million properties, including 1.2 million homes, may be in areas” where there is a significant coastal flood risk.[10] Not only does this pose a risk to coastal communities in the UK, but it also indicates the potential for low-tide baselines to also move inland.
This issue is even more pronounced for the UK’s overseas territories. A parliamentary briefing notes that the marine areas of the 14 overseas territories[11] are nine times larger than the UK’s EEZ and are home to roughly 3,300 unique species.[12] These territories are particularly vulnerable to climate change as “their infrastructure and economies tend to be concentrated on coastal zones” and are more sensitive to sea level rise. Environmental regulation is devolved to the governments of these territories, but the UK had provided some financial and technical assistance, primarily through initiatives such as the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and the Blue Belt Programme. Before the Blue Belt Programme was withdrawn in 2024, it had enhanced marine protection across 4 million square kilometres of marine environment in the UK Overseas Territories.[13]
To manage the risk of rising baselines, there is increasing pressure for a more comprehensive relief framework. It has been suggested that that the UK Government should “consider a dedicated fund” to help these territories combat, adapt, and mitigate the impacts of climate change. A potential reference is the government’s International Climate Finance, an initiative dedicated to supporting developing countries in responding to the challenges of climate change. Other proposals include using “hard engineering” to strengthen existing structures such as the sea wall and building new defences to further the baselines.[14]
As for now, the UK Government maintains that, in alignment with UNCLOS, baselines are ambulatory and subject to change if the low-tide demarcation moves inward as sea-levels rise. The UK Government noted that it will continue to engage in discussion with the International Law Commission and open to negotiations regarding how to confront this shortfall of UNCLOS. Nevertheless, the fact that the last time the House of Lords launched an inquiry into the efficacy of UNCLOS was in 2022 points to the lack of progress in this respect.
This also raises questions as to whether the current dispute settlement mechanisms under UNCLOS will continue to be the most optimum solution going forward. This question was posed by the UK Parliament as a part of their committee inquiry into UNCLOS[15] in order to evaluate the “extent to which it has proved able to adapt to new and emerging challenges” which include climate change, security, human rights, and autonomous maritime systems. Part XV of UNCLOS requires that states consent to international adjudication regarding their maritime disputes under the treaty regime, and some scholars suggest that this format may be flexible enough to manage novel disputes centring on climate change.[16]
Nevertheless, following a landmark advisory opinion that directly addressed States’ obligations in mitigating climate change, the UNCLOS is likely become increasingly important. In December 2022, the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law made a request to International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to clarify States’ obligations under the UNCLOS regarding the prevention, reduction, and control of marine pollution. In response, ITLOS emphasised that Article 194 of UNCLOS mandates States to “take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution from anthropogenic GHG emissions”, and that greenhouse gas emissions constitute marine pollution. This legal opinion demonstrates the growing scrutiny on States’ accountability and is likely to herald a more coordinated approach to climate action.
Climate change treaties and the ocean
Shipping and maritime activities have largely taken a backseat in many international climate change treaties. Scholars note that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) made “hardly any explicit reference or mention of the oceans beyond the preamble of the 2015 Paris Agreement…due to concern that adding that element could jeopardise the already fragile negotiations and consensus at the time.”[17]
The 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is one of the most significant treaties regarding the governance of “vessel-source pollution.”[18] 155 states, including the UK, are party to the treaty which aims to regulate the GHG emissions resulting from international shipping and create guidelines for limiting marine pollution.
These treaties may indicate the direction of UK policy as it aims to meet emissions reductions targets. In recent years, new efforts have been made in this area to bring maritime activities under broader climate change treaties. For instance, the Clydebank Declaration was announced at COP26 in 2021, which stated the ambition of signatory States to “support the establishment of green shipping corridors – zero emissions shipping routes between 2 ports.”[19] While this Declaration is not binding and has no enforcement mechanism, it does show a larger shift towards a global focus on the oceans. The Clydebank Declaration is intended work in conjunction with efforts from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to achieve zero-emission shipping.
On 7 July 2023, the IMO released the Revised GHG Reduction Strategy for Global Shipping which reasserts the goal of attaining net-zero emissions shipping by 2050. The strategy includes several interim targets that involve increasing the use of alternative zero and near-zero GHG fuels by 2030 and creating threshold checkpoints for 2030 and 2040 .[20] The UK, as a member of the IMO, can be expected to take steps to meet these targets.
One key development in 2023 was the successful negotiation of the UN High Seas Treaty. The Treaty aims to address the regulatory gaps by promoting coherence and coordination among existing institutions. Once the Treaty comes into force, the UK is likely to be affected by additional obligations that relate to highly technical marine genetic resources and environmental impact assessments. Sectors such as life sciences, marine, and shipping are likely to be implicated by the potential new legislation.[21]
It is also important to note that climate change and warming sea temperatures are amplifying broader diplomatic and security concerns that may have legal implications in the near future. For instance, melting polar ice has opened roughly 1,000 nautical miles in the Northwest Passage which will have commercial benefits by reducing reliance on passage through the Panama Canal by opening more routes for international trade. This commercial benefit has serious trade-offs though, particularly from an environmental perspective, as the operational pollution and “the risk of accidents associated with navigation in a fragile ecosystem presents serious concerns.”[22] There are also considerable security implications, particularly for Canada, due to this opening of a passageway which creates potential for the entry of terrorists and pirates into the region for the first time. Scholars suggest that due to the sensitivity of the Arctic ecosystem, UNCLOS may be utilised to enable control maritime activity in this region so far as it is within the limits of the EEZ.[23] Another prominent dispute is the South China Sea arbitration brought against China by the Philippines, which saw the Tribunal grappling with issues concerning environmental obligations and territorial disputes.[24]
How Maritime Law Can Help to Address Climate Change
The UK is using maritime law and policy as a tool to combat climate change and meet their emissions-reduction targets. The most prominent example of this is in the 2019 Clean Maritime Plan. The purpose of the plan is to keep the UK on target to fulfil their 2015 Paris Agreement commitments, and fulfil the maritime commitments found in the UK’s Clean Air Strategy which sees the UK reducing their GHG from shipping by 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels. The plan notes that in order to achieve this, the UK Government will invest in research and development of new technologies and alternative fuels in order to create zero-emissions vessels. The Plan is explicit in stating that these are “ambitions…intended to provide aspirational goals for the sector, not mandatory targets” but it indicates where UK policy will be heading in the future.
A July 2023 consultation hosted by the Department of Transportation exposed some of the shortfalls of the original Clean Maritime Plan and proposed improvements to better combat climate change.[25] Respondents agreed that “increasing the uptake for alternative fuels was the best way to reduce emissions.”[26] Respondents also suggested that in order to reduce the impact of barriers to achieving zero-emissions shipping, which are largely technological, that the Government invest directly in research and development in alternative fuels and to subsidize the adoption of these expensive technologies.
While emissions from shipping and aviation were largely excluded from the UK’s earlier net-zero targets, there are plans to begin integrating these sectors in net zero policies. A 3 July 2023 Press Release from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero indicated that the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) will be extended to include domestic maritime transport from 2026 onward.[27] The Department noted that in order to make this transition painless for industry that the cap “will be set at the highest level…allowing maximum flexibility for industries.” Additionally, there will be extra allowances available between 2024 and 2027 in order to provide protection from international pressures and prevent carbon leakage, a phenomenon which “refers to the movement of production and associated emissions from one country to another due to different levels of decarbonization rules, such as carbon pricing and climate regulation.” In conjunction with these efforts, the Department announced that there will be new investments made towards the creation of Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies. The Department notes that an investment in GGR technology, such as Direct Air Capture which “extracts carbon emissions directly from the atmosphere to store in rocks beneath the earth’s surface,” will be vital for reaching their goals. It should be noted that this scheme will only apply to large maritime vessels equal or greater than 5000 gross tonnage.
In August 2023, the UK Department for Transport showed strong interest in establishing a green shipping corridor (GSC) with the US. Briefly, the GSC is defined as “maritime routes that showcase low- and zero-emission lifecycle fuels and technologies with the ambition to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions across all aspects of the corridor”.[28] An International Green Corridor Fund was subsequently set up in September 2023, with the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Ireland as partner countries. The green corridors are expected to bring about cleaner journeys for passengers and freight, and accelerate the targets established by the Clydebank Declaration.
The UK is also using legislation to regulate the Maritime sector to mitigate the effects of climate change. Bottom trawling, the running of nets and sea equipment along the ocean floor which damages marine ecosystems and destroys carbon-sequestering seagrass, increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In 2022, the UK introduced a series of byelaws to ban this and similar types of practices in specified marine conservation zones in order to protect biodiversity. These include byelaws that target the Dogger Bank Special Conservation Area,[29] the South Dorset Marine Conservation Area,[30] and the Canyons Marine Conservation Area.[31] It is likely that similar regulations will be put in place in other areas of the UK’s sovereign waters as more targeted efforts to meet their emissions targets and marine protection commitments are undertaken.
[1] For more information on the UK’s international obligations in the context of climate change, please see the section on Public International Law and Climate Change.
[2] United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
[3] House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee HL Paper 159 2nd Report of Session 2021-22 UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st Century. HL paper 159.
[4] International Relations and Defence Committee, UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st century (HL), 2nd Report of Session 2021-21, HL Paper 159, [29]
[5] House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee HL Paper 159 2nd Report of Session 2021-22 UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st Century. HL paper 159.
[6] Townhill, Bryony L. et al; Climate change projections of commercial fish distribution and suitable habitat around north western Europe, Fish and Fisheries, 2 July 2023 link. Accessed 11 August 2023.
[7] Orellana, Marcos A., ‘Climate Change and the International Law of the Sea: Mapping the Legal Issues’, in Randall S. Abate (ed.), Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law: U.S. and International Perspectives (New York, 2015; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Jan. 2015), link. accessed 2 Sept. 2022
[8] House of Lord’s International Relations and Defence Committee UNCLOS: The Law of the Sea in the 21st Century Government Response, Received 31 May 2022.
[9] Ward, Bob and Kyriacou, Georgina, How is climate change affecting coastal flooding in the UK?, LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, 22 January 2021, link.
[10] Ward, Bob and Kyriacou, Georgina, How is climate change affecting coastal flooding in the UK?, LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, 22 January 2021, https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/how-is-climate-change-affecting-coastal-flooding-in-the-uk/.
[11] These territories include: Ascension, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha, British Indian Ocean Territory, Montserrat, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, British Virgin Islands, Pitcairn, Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bermuda, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory, and Gibraltar.
[12] UK Parliament Research Briefing, The UK Overseas Territories: Climate change and biodiversity, 21 October 2021. link.
[13] Marine Management Organisation, Centre for Environment Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, ‘Blue Belt Programme: Programme Highlights 2016-2020’ <link>
[14] Ward et al at n 12.
[15] UK Parliament. UN Convention on the Law of the Sea inquiry launched. 15 October 2021. link.
[16] Orellana, Marcos A., ‘Climate Change and the International Law of the Sea: Mapping the Legal Issues’,in Randall S. Abate (ed.), Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law: U.S. and International Perspectives (New York, 2015; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Jan. 2015), link, accessed 2 Sept. 2022.
[17] House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee HL Paper 159 2nd Report of Session 2021-22 UNCLOS: the law of the sea in the 21st Century. HL paper 159.
[18] Chircop, Aldo, Meinhard Doelle, and Ryan Gauvin. “Shipping and climate change: international law and policy considerations.” Available at SSRN 3113274 (2018).
[19] Policy paper COP 26: Clydebank Declaration for green shipping corridors Updated 13 April 2022. link.
[20] International Maritime Organization, Revised GHG Reduction Strategy for Global Shipping, Adopted 7 July 2023. link.
[21] Will Thomas, Lee Rovinescu, Anika Havaldar, and Charlotte Verdon, ‘The New High Seas Treaty: Part 1 – What Does It Provide?’ (Freshfields, 15 March 2023) <link>
[22] Orellana, Marcos A., ‘Climate Change and the International Law of the Sea: Mapping the Legal Issues’,in Randall S. Abate (ed.), Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law: U.S. and International Perspectives (New York, 2015; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Jan. 2015), link. Accessed 2 Sept. 2022.
[23] Orellana, Marcos A., ‘Climate Change and the International Law of the Sea: Mapping the Legal Issues’, in Randall S. Abate (ed.), Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law: U.S. and International Perspectives (New York, 2015; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Jan. 2015), link. accessed 2 Sept. 2022.
[24] Makane Moïse Mbengue, ‘The South China Sea Arbitration: Innovations in Marine Environmental Fact-Finding and Due Diligence Obligations’ (2016) AJIL Unbound 110, 285
[25] Department for Transport, Closed Consultation: Domestic maritime decarbonisation: the course to net zero emissions – summary of responses, 20 July 2023. link.
[26] Respondents in the Consultation included: academics, port and harbour authorities, public bodies, energy companies, NGO’s, technologies, consultancies, maritime operators, governing bodies and trade unions, and trade bodies.
[27] Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Press Release: Tighter limit on industrial, power, and aviation emissions, as UK leads the way to net zero, 3 July 2023. link.
[28] John Rousakis, Eric Rothenberg, Chris Bowman, and David Safarian, ‘Maritime Environmental Law Update’ (O’Melveny, 26 March 2024) <link>
[29] Marine Management Organisation, Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c.23): The Dogger Bank Special Area of Conservation (Specified Area) Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2022
[30] Marine Management Organisation, Marine and Coastal Access Act (c.23), The South Dorset Marine Conservation Zone (Specified Area) Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-south-dorset-marine-conservation-zone-specified-area-bottom-towed-fishing-gear-byelaw-2022/.
[31] Marine Management Organisation, Marine and Coastal Access Act (c.23), The Canyons Marine Conservation Zone (Specified Area) Prohibited Fishing Gears Byelaw 2022. link.