International regulatory responses to global challenges in marine pollution and climate change

Marine pollution, also referred to as \u27pollution of the marine environment\u27, may occur as a result of different activities. Examples are land-based activities, vessel-related activitiese, dumping at sea, atmospheric and offshore hydrocarbon exploration, seabed mining, and so on. As discussed in Chapter 4, these types of marine pollution are often transboundary in nature and are harmful to human health and marine ecosystem. Similarly, climate change is a global issue involving the interests of all States. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), finalized and published in 2014, has further confirmed the existence of global warming when compared with the previous IPCC reports. It indicates that climate change has negatively affected natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans, and asserts that 280substantial and sustained reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would contribute to the tackling of climate change. 1 International issues need international responses. Both the marine pollution and climate change are issues with international dimensions, and thus require the global regulation by the international community