Researchers from the UJI and the UA defend the integration of the impacts of marine noise pollution in international criminal law with an analysis from ecocriminology
The research team has come to this conclusion after analysing the relevant legislation and studying the mechanisms for the defence of marine life.
image: In an article published in the journal Kriminologie, a team of researchers from the universities of Castelló and Alicante suggest that the effects of underwater noise pollution should be included in international criminal and administrative law. Anthropogenic noise can be not only a serious public health problem, but also a significant stressor for marine and terrestrial life. Scientific evidence has shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between underwater noise pollution and the development of some species, and although it has been identified by the World Health Organisation as one of the world's most important pollutants, comprehensive strategies to address its impact on the marine environment have only been developed in the last decade. After analysing international legislation on the subject, the team believes that this type of pollution "needs to be addressed in a single but integrated approach" because even if the activities are authorised, their effects can be difficult to reverse. In their view, "the law must deal with the protection of the environment in a comprehensive manner" and develop a model of protection that includes administrative sanctions, but also criminal sanctions in very serious cases. The article "Underwater noise pollution as an ecological crime: a global problem in the Anthropocene", signed by Esteban Morelle-Hungría of the UJI's Centre for Research in Criminal Law, Criminology and Intelligence; Eva S. Fonfría, John Y. Dobson and Cesar Bordehore of the Multidisciplinary Institute for the Study of the Environment "Ramon Margalef", the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology and the Department of Ecology, respectively, of the University of Alicante, which analyses the legislation on the subject, has been selected by a jury of scientists as the best article of 2023 in the scientific journal Kriminologie - The Online Journal.
Credit: Universitat Jaume I of Castellon
In an article published in the journal Kriminologie, a team of researchers from the universities of Castelló and Alicante suggest that the effects of underwater noise pollution should be included in international criminal and administrative law.
Anthropogenic noise can be not only a serious public health problem, but also a significant stressor for marine and terrestrial life. Scientific evidence has shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between underwater noise pollution and the development of some species, and although it has been identified by the World Health Organisation as one of the world's most important pollutants, comprehensive strategies to address its impact on the marine environment have only been developed in the last decade.
After analysing international legislation on the subject, the team believes that this type of pollution "needs to be addressed in a single but integrated approach" because even if the activities are authorised, their effects can be difficult to reverse. In their view, "the law must deal with the protection of the environment in a comprehensive manner" and develop a model of protection that includes administrative sanctions, but also criminal sanctions in very serious cases.
The article "Underwater noise pollution as an ecological crime: a global problem in the Anthropocene", signed by Esteban Morelle-Hungría of the UJI's Centre for Research in Criminal Law, Criminology and Intelligence; Eva S. Fonfría, John Y. Dobson and Cesar Bordehore of the Multidisciplinary Institute for the Study of the Environment "Ramon Margalef", the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology and the Department of Ecology, respectively, of the University of Alicante, which analyses the legislation on the subject, has been selected by a jury of scientists as the best article of 2023 in the scientific journal Kriminologie - The Online Journal.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) already explicitly included underwater noise, describing it as "the introduction of substances or energy which has harmful effects on living resources and marine life". And the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) classified adverse effects into three categories: masking, behavioural disturbance and physiological changes (including hearing loss, injury and death).
Over four decades, various conventions and resolutions have been developed to protect them, up to ACCOBAMS Resolution 8.17 of 2022 (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area), in which it was agreed to promote a reduction in the speed of maritime traffic or to reinforce measures already implemented and to take account of noise abatement. However, this type of pollution has not been included in one of the most important conventions where it could be most effective, the Convention on Biological Diversity, ratified by 196 nations and in force since 1993.
Green and blue criminology has developed as a perspective within criminology that emphasises environmental damage by providing a comprehensive analysis of the impact of human activities on nature. The European Union is working to improve legal certainty and thus the effectiveness of environmental prevention in the field of environmental crime by revising the Directive on Environmental Crime (ECD).
The research is included in the UJI project B2021-41 "Legal responses of a punitive nature to climate change as a risk to national security" of the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, directed by UJI lecturer Antonio Fernández-Hernández.
Article: Morelle-Hungria, E., Fonfria, E., Dobson, J., & Borderhore, C. (2023). Underwater noise pollution as an ecological crime: A global problem in the Anteopocene. Kriminologie - The Online Journal, 4 (5), 348-363. (https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/krimoj/2023.4.8)
The research team
Esteban Morelle-Hungría (UJI) is a permanent lecturer at the Department of Public Law and a specialist in environmental criminal law and green criminology, and one of the pioneers of the so-called "ecocriminology", a perspective within criminology that focuses on ecological damage.
Eva S. Fonfría (UA) is a senior researcher at the Multidisciplinary Institute for the Study of the Environment "Ramon Margalef" and an expert in marine pollution and the impact of human activities on their ecosystems.
John Y. Dobson (UA) is a junior researcher in the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology and an expert in dynamic modelling of marine systems.
Cesar Bordehore (UA) is an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology, specialising in systems modelling and the management, conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems; he also coordinates the UA-Dénia Marine Laboratory (marlab.ua.denia).