ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between the law of the sea and international climate change law. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is referred to as a framework convention due to its role as setting the governance structure for the international climate regime. The development of the UN climate treaty regime was the 1997 adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, the aim of which was to supplement the UNFCCC by establishing internationally negotiated, legally binding quantitative emission targets. The International Maritime Organization was designated as the agency to deal with greenhouse gases emissions from shipping. The only progress from an ocean perspective in acknowledging the significant role that oceans play in climate regulation is the mention of oceans in the preamble of the Paris Agreement. The chapter assesses the potential for positive synergies arising out of regime interaction by looking for mutual supportiveness between the two regimes.
