Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law
U.S. and International Perspectives

Ocean Law and Coastal Law have grown rapidly in the past three decades as specialty areas within natural resources law and environmental law. The protection of oceans has received increased attention in the past decade because of the global overfishing crisis, widespread depletion of marine living resources (such as marine mammals and coral reefs), and oil pollution. During this same period, climate change regulation has emerged as a focus of international environmental diplomacy, and has gained increased attention in the wake of disturbing and abrupt climate change related impacts throughout the world that have profound implications for ocean and coastal regulation and marine resources. Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law effectively brings together the two worlds of climate change and ocean and coastal management. It raises important questions about whether and how ocean and coastal law will respond to the regulatory challenges that climate change presents to resources in the oceans and coasts of the U.S. and the world. This comprehensive work assembles the insights of global experts from academia and major NGOs (e.g., Center for International Environmental Law, Ocean Conservancy, and Environmental Law Institute) to address regulatory challenges from the perspectives of U.S. law, foreign domestic law, and international law.

Randall S. Abate is a Professor of Law, Director of the Center for International Law and Justice, and Project Director of the Environment, Development & Justice Program at Florida A&M University College of Law. Professor Abate teaches several courses in domestic and international environmental law, including the Ocean and Coastal Law, and the Climate Change Law and Indigenous Peoples. He also teaches Constitutional Law, and Animal Law. Professor Abate has published widely on environmental law topics. His articles on climate change law and justice have appeared in several law journals including the Stanford Environmental Law Journal, Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, Connecticut Law Review, Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, Washington Law Review, William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, Ottawa Law Review, and Fordham Environmental Law Review.