The ocean covers 70% of Earth's surface yet remains dangerously underprotected. This groundbreaking analysis examines how the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—hailed as a "constitution for the oceans"—must evolve to address unprecedented environmental crises: marine plastic pollution forming continent-sized garbage patches, ocean acidification threatening entire ecosystems, and sea-level rise that could displace 630 million people by 2100.

Through detailed case studies spanning deep-sea mining controversies, Arctic climate governance, and Mediterranean conservation...