The international legal liability regime for damages to the marine environment in the economic exploitation of the area

Abstract

Within the scope of International Law of the Sea, this scientific article outlined, as a general objective, to analyze the legal regime of international liability for damages to the marine environment, in the economic exploitation of the Area, highlighting two specific objectives: (I) To assess the extent of international liability of the Sponsor State in the economic exploitation of the Area, in case of damages to the marine environment; (II) To identify the extent of the international responsibility of the Sponsored Contractor and the International Seabed Authority in the economic exploitation of the Area, in case of damages to the marine environment. As a research problem, it was established: In the International Law of the Sea, to what extent the legal regime is effective in determining the international liability of the Sponsor State, the Sponsored Contractor and the International Seabed Authority for marine environmental damages caused by the economic exploitation of the Area? In addition to the exploratory-bibliographic research technique, the analytical-normative research method was adopted of a deductive nature. Finally, it was concluded that the international legal regime has been progressively effective in the delimitation of international liabilities to the Sponsor State, the Sponsored Contractor and the International Seabed Authority due to damages to the marine environment caused by economic exploration of the Area.Keywords: International Law of the Sea. Economic exploitation of the Area. Damages to the marine environment. International liability.IntroduçãoA exploração econômica da Área tem apresentado essencial relevo no regime jurídico de responsabilidade internacional, na perspectiva dos possíveis impactos e danos ambientais que poderá acarretar ao meio ambiente marinho. A Área e seus recursos minerais são considerados normativamente como Patrimônio Comum da Humanidade e cobrem, aproximadamente, 54% da área total dos oceanos.14A busca internacional pela sua exploração apresentou um progresso limitado até a década de 1970. Contudo, a partir da última década, de 2010 em diante, houve um aumento constante na procura pela mineração da Área, com o fim de suprir a crescente demanda da humanidade por matérias-primas e preencher a lacuna no mercado global causada pela sobrecarga de exploração das minas terrestres.25Diante dessas constatações e imersa na problemática da responsabilidade internacional por danos ambientais causados pela exploração da Área, a presente 1 INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY. About ISA. Disponível em: https://isa.org.jm/about-isa. Acesso em: 06 set. 2021.2HAECKEL, M.; VINK, A.; JANSSEN, F.; KASTEN, S.Environmental Impacts of Deep Seabed Mining. New Knowledge and Changing Circumstances in the Law of the Sea. The Netherlands: Brill Nijhoff, 2020. p. 327.