Insufficient Regulation in High Seas: Impact of Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Extract

[...] Mégret, Environmental Responsibilities in International Law, Belgian Review of International Law, 2013. - Redgwell, Offshore Energy Exploitation and International Law, Oxford University Press, 2015. [...]

[...] The Deepwater Horizon case demonstrates the limitations of this system. While lawsuits could be brought in the United States under the OPA 90, a similar accident occurring in high seas would have escaped all legally coherent control. This highlights the urgency of strengthening international law by imposing effective environmental obligations in contracts and creating a common framework of liability applicable to economic actors in high seas. The analysis of existing norms highlights a permissive international law, where the freedom of exploitation takes precedence over environmental prevention. [...]

[...] The governance of the high seas today calls for a global legal response, balancing economic interests, state sovereignty, and environmental protection. The challenge is now to build a legal regime worthy of the 21st century's challenges. Bibliography - United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Montego Bay, 1982. - International Maritime Organization, post-Deepwater reports, 2012. - London Protocol on the Prevention of Marine Pollution, 1996. - Polluter Pays Principle, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992. - F. [...]

[...] It is therefore necessary to examine the limits of contractual and institutional devices applied to offshore oil activities. B. Weakly binding contracts with low environmental guarantees The exploitation of oil and gas resources relies on contractual mechanisms between states and private companies. This can involve concession contracts, production-sharing agreements, or exploitation licenses. These instruments, often drafted in accordance with private law standards, primarily respond to a logic of profitability and legal security for investors. However, they do not provide sufficient protection for the marine environment, especially when they concern areas outside national jurisdiction. [...]

[...] A reformative impulse of international law In this second part, it will be a matter of examining the legal impact caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident. It will highlight, on the one hand, the strengthening of obligations imposed on industrial actors in certain national systems and then present the dynamics aimed at establishing a more coherent international governance in the field of offshore hydrocarbon exploitation A. A hardening of industrial obligations The US response to the disaster was swift and structured. [...]