International waters and environmental policies

International waters are less regulated than national waters, allowing environmentally damaging activities to occur. In addition, as global warming continues, changes in shorelines and the melting of the Arctic ice cap may create international complications.

Background

Nearly three-fourths of the world’s surface is covered by water. Each terrestrial or oceanic ecosystem has developed depending upon the availability of a certain type and quantity of water. Major bodies of water and the atmosphere work together to form a circular system. The atmosphere affects glaciers, ice caps, rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans, while simultaneously these bodies of water affect the atmosphere. Changes in one directly result in changes in the other. Because lie outside national boundaries, caring for them is often a low priority.

Pre-Twentieth Century History

With the Portuguese and Spanish explorations of the fifteenth century, Europeans began to have aspirations for global dominance. New claims over the ocean were put forward, first by Portugal and Spain, which were quickly followed by the British and Dutch. In the early seventeenth century, to reduce conflict, Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius put forward the freedom of the seas theory, that all oceans and adjoining seas could be used by everyone for any purpose. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, this principle was accepted by all European nations, with the provision that each nation controlled the first 4.8 kilometers of water adjacent to its shoreline. In certain strategic straits, all vessels were allowed to travel. This was the norm for the next two hundred years. The assumption during this period was that the oceans were so vast that nothing people could do would cause any harm to them.

Changes in the Twentieth Century

By the dawn of the twentieth century, it was becoming clear that not all the ocean’s resources were inexhaustible. Not wanting to lose resources, in 1945 the United States claimed the entire continental shelf and all the water above it. Because of this, other countries extended their territorial claims to 19.3 kilometers off their coasts. The United Nations organized the Conference on the Sea in 1958. Two more conferences were held, leading to the negotiation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This agreement recognized new economic realities, as well as assigning responsibility for preserving the ocean’s resources to all nations. A 19-kilometer territorial limit from the shoreline was formally recognized, as well as the 320-kilometer exclusive economic zone. The country controlling a given economic zone was formally charged with protecting the oceanic environment within it. Free navigation by all countries was allowed in this zone, in international waters, and through strategic straits. It was formally agreed that in international waters, all nations would share both the right to use environmental resources and the responsibility to protect them.

Effects of Climatic Changes on International Waters

The assumption that human actions can have little effect upon oceans has been discarded. The direct effect of Earth’s oceans upon the climate has become well known, as the global effects of weather patterns such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and have become understood. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from 1901 to 2023, the ocean rose at an average rate of 0.14 degree Fahrenheit. One of the most visible maritime biological changes is the bleaching of coral and the slow destruction of coral reefs caused by changes in both temperatures and currents.

The currents are a necessary part of the ocean’s ecosystem. They help equalize the and other aspects of seawater. Some parts of the ocean are becoming fresher, and some are becoming more acidic. Aquatic life is often more sensitive to subtle environmental changes than are land-based creatures, and changes in their habitats can be devastating both for sea creatures and for the humans that depend on them.

The melting of the polar ice caps also poses potential problems for island nations and for some continental nations that have large amounts of territory close to sea level. Many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean are not very high above sea level. With the projected sea-level rise during the twenty-first century, these islands face the prospect of losing much of their land. This loss will place great pressure on their inhabitants to take drastic steps to survive. It may become necessary for other nations to accept immigrants from these areas.

Context

The oceans constitute an extremely complex system in themselves, and that system is merely a component in the larger and more complex global climate system. The full effect that climate change will have upon international waters remains unclear. Because historically much less study has been done in the world’s oceans than on the land, scientists do not have the breadth of knowledge needed fully to understand physical and biological oceanic systems. Thus, it cannot be said with certainty when climatic changes will have catastrophic effects in maritime ecosystems. However, it is certain that those effects will not respect national boundaries. So much of the oceans lie outside of territorial waters that efforts to protect them must take place largely in international waters.

Climate change is already causing dramatic changes in places such as the Arctic Ocean. This not only affects the plants and animals in the region, but it is also stirring up new conflicts among the nations that border this ocean. Once again, the desire for economic supremacy is pushing nations to enforce their rights in the territorial and international waters of the Arctic. For example, in 2008, Norway detained Russian fishing trawlers that they claimed were in their territorial waters, while Russia claimed the area was open to all nations. By 2024, Norway had continued to expel Russian fishing trawlers from its waters. Thus, climate change is causing not only physical changes but political changes as well. As changes in other international waters become more pronounced, similar conflicts might arise over resources in those areas that countries believe are vital to their well-being. The effect of climate change on international waters can directly touch people in all parts of the world.

Key Concepts

• exclusive economic zone: a zone extending about 320 kilometers from a nation’s shore in which all economic rights are granted to that nation
• freedom of the seas: the principle that outside of water adjoining nations’ shorelines, all nations have the right of free passage and use of the ocean’s resources
• territorial waters: areas within bodies of water that are within a nation’s borders and subject to all laws and regulations of that nation
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: an international agreement outlining the rights of nations regarding territorial waters, economic zones, and rights of passage

Bibliography

"Climate Change Indicators: Sea Surface Temperature." US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), June 2024, www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-surface-temperature. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.

Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming. Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale, 2006.

Grotius, Hugo. The Free Sea. Reprint. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004.

"Norway Expels Russian Fishing Vessel for Security Reasons." The Maritime Executive, 15 Dec. 2024, maritime-executive.com/article/norway-expels-russian-fishing-vessel-for-security-reasons. Accessed 20 Dec. 2024.

Strati, Anastasia, et al., eds. Unresolved Issues and New Challenges to the Law of the Sea: Time Before and Time After. Leiden, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, 2006.

United Nations. United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science, 2008.