Abstract
Ocean renewable energy sources hold the potential to contribute to the options of low-carbon energy sources and enhance the efforts by the global community to mitigate climate change. This chapter provides a brief background on the current state of technology and the development of wave, tidal and ocean thermal energy and considers their potential as forms of renewable energy as well as the potential negative environmental footprints of ocean renewable energy installation and development. Secondly, the relevant international legal and policy frameworks governing ocean energy are examined, highlighting in particular, the absence of a global legal instrument that specifically regulates ocean renewable energy installations on the high seas. Thirdly, the current challenges to the roll-out of ocean renewable energy within the international regulatory framework are identified. Lastly, suggested policy and legal options available to countries to optimise the vast ocean energy resources are provided.