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The role of China in protecting the Arctic against pollutions from vessels: a legal perspective

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Marziyehsadat Montazeritabar
Marziyehsadat Montazeritabar
Marziyehsadat Montazeritabar
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Haibo Ye
Haibo Ye
Haibo Ye
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Abstract

In the past decade, global climate change and the rapid melting of polar ice have dramatically transformed the Arctic landscape from a vast ice-covered area to a seasonally navigable sea. This accessibility has sparked increased commercial activity, posing a threat from various pollutants, particularly from vessel sources. Given China’s profound interests in Arctic shipping, its involvement may face resistance from Arctic states, and therefore, it is important for China to ensure that its presence benefits local communities and states. This study explores China’s role in shaping the international legal landscape to protect the Arctic from vessel-source pollutions. The intricate interplay between China’s economic interests, maritime security concerns, and environmental commitments in the Arctic underscores China’s potential role. By aligning with existing international legal structures, such as UNCLOS and MARPOL, China has already started to demonstrate its commitment to preserving the Arctic environment. This study assesses and discusses the potentially strategic importance of China’s involvement in influencing legal regimes, offering a crucial contribution to global efforts to preserve this vital region.
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Vol:.(1234567890)
Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2024) 31:40462–40471
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31765-1
1 3
BLACK CARBON EMISSION ANDECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT BALANCE INARCTIC
SHIPPING ROUTES
The role ofChina inprotecting theArctic againstpollutions
fromvessels: alegal perspective
MarziyehsadatMontazeritabar1,2 · HaiboYe1
Received: 12 April 2023 / Accepted: 25 December 2023 / Published online: 11 January 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024
Abstract
In the past decade, global climate change and the rapid melting of polar ice have dramatically transformed the Arctic
landscape from a vast ice-covered area to a seasonally navigable sea. This accessibility has sparked increased commercial
activity, posing a threat from various pollutants, particularly from vessel sources. Given China’s profound interests in
Arctic shipping, its involvement may face resistance from Arctic states, and therefore, it is important for China to ensure
that its presence benefits local communities and states. This study explores China’s role in shaping the international legal
landscape to protect the Arctic from vessel-source pollutions. The intricate interplay between China’s economic interests,
maritime security concerns, and environmental commitments in the Arctic underscores China’s potential role. By aligning
with existing international legal structures, such as UNCLOS and MARPOL, China has already started to demonstrate its
commitment to preserving the Arctic environment. This study assesses and discusses the potentially strategic importance of
China’s involvement in influencing legal regimes, offering a crucial contribution to global efforts to preserve this vital region.
Keywords Arctic· China· Shipping· Pollution· Marine environment· Law· Vessel
Introduction
The Arctic is one of the world’s most unique and pristine
environments, with its vast ice-covered seas, polar bears,
and other unique species (Riedel 2014). The Arctic region
has been one of the fastest-changing regions due to climate
change (Jeffries etal. 2013). The melting of ice in the Arc-
tic is further diversifying the global trade shipping routes
by opening up new routes, which has sparked interest in
the potential for increased commercial activity in the Arctic
(Theocharis etal. 2018; Zhou etal. 2021). However, this
delicate ecosystem is under threat from various environmen-
tal pollutions (Corbett etal. 2010), such as oil pollution,
organic pollution, and radioactive pollution (Hong 2020).
Indeed, the Arctic’s harsh weather conditions increase the
risks for ships navigating ice-covered areas, including poten-
tial accidents like collisions, groundings, and other maritime
incidents (Fu etal. 2022b). These dangers are amplified by
the presence of sea ice, low visibility, freezing temperatures,
and floating icebergs (Ma etal. 2021), posing a substantial
threat to navigational safety (Fu etal. 2022a).
As the vessels utilized for Arctic shipping are a potentially
significant source of pollution (Kirchner 2017), with various
types of emissions and discharges contributing to environ-
mental damage and health risks for local communities and
marine life in the Arctic region, there is a need for sustainable
Arctic shipping to mitigate the impacts on the environment
(Ng etal. 2018). In this regard, the general international legal
frameworks for the shipping and navigation activities in the
world’s oceans and seas as well as obligations for marine envi-
ronmental protection, including the United Nations Conven-
tion on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS1) and the International
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues
* Haibo Ye
yehaibo@szu.edu.cn
1 School ofLaw, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen518060, China
2 Theoretical Economics Postdoctoral Research Workstation,
Shenzhen University, Shenzhen518060, China
1 UNCLOS is an international treaty that was adopted in 1982 and came
into force in 1994. It defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in
their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the
environment, and the management of marine natural resources.
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... The new law pays special attention to linking individual clauses with relevant maritime clauses to reduce differing legal outcomes caused by the same legal act. This aims to protect the marine environment (Montazeritabar & Ye, 2024). ...
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