Author Description

Environments have no boundaries and no borders. Managing oceanic environments, particularly the threats and risks of pollution, should also consider the shared responsibility of all coastal states. Emerging issues for oceanic pollution governance include global changes like rising temperature, ocean acidification, but also disturbances of ecosystem functioning by plastic and pollution by other emerging contaminants, for example, noise pollution and deep-sea mining. These call for efficient and sustainable prevention and restoration strategies, such as such as efficient urban and industrial sewage treatment plants, efficiently administered transnational marine protected areas, and among others, sustainable aquaculture, extensive small-scale fisheries. Environmental protection warrants the development of interrelationships between marine sciences, relevant industries, and ocean governance developing internationally accepted rules and regulations for sustainable ocean management. This Research Topic will explore possible new domains of ocean governance and the marine environment from the interdisciplinary perspectives of the rule of law including the international agreement on equal conventions, the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, the Convention on the International Regulation for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).