Marine Renewable Energies: Regulatory Challenges

Considered their capacity to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits, marine renewable energies have featured increasingly in sustainable development discussions, with a variety of commitments and initiatives. However, the ongoing and the desired developments put to the test the ability of the existing international regulatory framework to govern these new activities at sea, and legal and regulatory issues are cited in several studies as a major non-technical barrier to their development. It is necessary for international law to provide a coherent and certain framework for operation of domestic regulatory regimes, also ensuring that such regimes respects necessary limits established by international rules.