Page 281 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

the sphere of responsibilities in a broad way, zil, in the South Atlantic basin and in tropical 2. Marine pollution as a transboundary phenomenon: concept and
being, in fact, a responsibility of all: from the coastal regions around the world (SOARES approaches
individual to the collective. et al., 2020).
In this sense, there are several interna- The fact that marine pollution is a topic Efforts to provide the scientific basis by individuals, directly or indirectly, of
tional legal norms that provide for the re- addressed in so many spheres of law demon- for pollution control have been increas- substances or energy into the marine
sponsibility of States when they cause pol- strates the magnitude of the phenomenon, ing, and the law, although permeated by environment, whose results can turn out in
lution in the ocean: it is understood that the as well as justifies the concern and urgency inadequacies in the scientific understand- deleterious effects, such as danger to living
duty of each country is to refrain from the of the problem, which can manifest itself in ing of marine pollution, has progressed at beings and marine life, human health and
occurrence of this type of damage, especial- different ways. The international community national and international levels for some compromising the quality of seawater use. 4
ly in order to guarantee that the activities remains committed to eliminating important decades now (TOMCZAK, 1984, p. 311- Reinforcing the transboundary nature
under its jurisdiction and control are carried legal gaps, such as the issue of marine plastic 322). This is largely due to the fact that of marine pollution, more broadly, the phe-
out with due diligence not to cause pollu- pollution and the specific approach to micro- one of the ecosystems in which the impact nomenon “transboundary pollution” was
tion to other States and their environment. plastics, such as the recent negotiations that of humanity has been felt most severely the object of international arbitration in the
5
In Brazilian domestic law, in turn, the Na- culminated in the UN Resolution “End Plastic is the marine environment. For long pe- emblematic Trail Smelter case of 1941, con-
tional Plan to Combat Marine Litter was de- Pollution” (UNITED NATIONS, 2021/2022). riods, humanity acted as if the ocean, so sidered as the dispute that established the
veloped, which is specifically aimed at miti- This work, therefore, presents reflections vast and so full of life, could tolerate any foundations of International Environmental
gating marine pollution, considering, for its that range from the concept of marine pollu- level of pollution thrown into it (POTTERS, Law with regard to transboundary pollu-
actions, the specificities of each region and tion and its main origins, to the understand- 2013), but this is not the reality. tion (HALL, 2007, p. 696). In the arbitration
location (BRASIL, 2019). ing of collective responsibility that is charac- In 1972, the Convention on the Pre- award, the court, when deciding on an ep-
It should be noted that in the Brazilian teristic of the phenomenon, which is translat- vention of Marine Pollution by Dumping isode of air pollution, mentioned a case re-
case, standards of this nature are becom- ed into the provisions of various legal mecha- of Wastes and Other Matter was created; lated to water pollution, in which the city of
ing increasingly important, mainly due to nisms, whether international or national. The known as the London Convention, it has New York was subpoenaed, at the request
the repeated occurrence of oil spills on the subsistence of legal gaps, however, proves been in force since 1975. This convention of the State of New Jersey, to desist from the
country’s coasts. The substances spilled to be an important obstacle to the effective aims to promote the effective control of all practice of dumping sewage into the sea,
on the Brazilian coast are varied, the main approach and mitigation of the problem, as sources of marine pollution and to adopt which was harmful to the applicant’s coastal
ones being identified: diesel, marine fuel, which, on the other hand, has already been possible measures to avoid sea pollution waters in the vicinity of their resorts (UNITED
oily residue; lubricant; and/or oil. Such spills duly recognized and has been emphatically from the release of waste and other ma- NATIONS; Trail Smelter case. Op. Cit. p.1964).
may have a known origin, such as those debated. Although there are several types of terials (TURRA, 2020, p. 41). The Conven- Considering the nuances of the case
from vessels, or they may be orphan spots marine pollution, the main focus of the re- tion operates on lists of “waste or other and the precedents addressed by the court,
of unknown origin, which makes it difficult search is on marine pollution from plastics to matter” classified by their hazardous na- it was decided that no State has the right
to identify the volume of spilled oil. These, Sargassum sp., demonstrating how differ- ture and makes appropriate regulations to use or permit the use of its territory in
even in small volumes, occur with an expres- ent human activities can severely impact the by reference to the lists. The terms pollu- a way that causes harm arising from toxic
sive frequency. This is the profile of most ocean. It is a theoretical, bibliographical, de- tion, harmful and dangerous matter, how- gases in the territory of another State or
spills that have occurred in the last ten years scriptive, exploratory and qualitative research ever, are also invoked, but not defined in the properties of the persons contained
in the country: small, but frequent (SILVA, of national and international bibliography, (TOMCZAK, 1984, p. 315). therein. The Arbitral Tribunal reached this
2019). Yet, in early September 2019, dense with priority to recently published scientific The Montego Bay Convention (UN- conclusion regarding air pollution, but it is
crude oil began washing up to the beaches articles, in addition to legislation and inter- CLOS), ten years later, presented a defini- equally applicable to water and sea pollu-
3
of Brazil’s tropical coast. This oil spill was the national documents relevant to the object tion of pollution of the marine environ- tion and is, since then, widely considered
most extensive and serious environmental under analysis, especially reports, resolutions ment, conceptualizing it as the type of as part of general international law (MEN-
disaster ever recorded in the history of Bra- and international conventions. pollution resulting from the introduction, DIS, 2006, p. 11).

278 BLUE ECONOMY Marine pollution as everyone’s responsibility 279