Regulating AI-Enabled Marine Autonomous Systems to Advance Climate-Resilient Ocean Governance Under International Law

Abstract

Climate change is rapidly transforming marine ecosystems and ocean governance, while Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly deployed as a critical tool for monitoring, managing, and regulating marine space. AI-enabled technologies—such as autonomous vessels, underwater drones, predictive analytics, and algorithmic surveillance—are now used to address climate-related challenges including ocean warming, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, biodiversity loss, and maritime safety. Despite their growing importance, international legal frameworks, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), remain poorly equipped to regulate the environmental, jurisdictional, and accountability implications of AI-driven activities in marine spaces.This article identifies a significant regulatory gap at the intersection of climate change, AI governance, and the law of the sea: the absence of a coherent legal framework governing responsibility, transparency, and equity in the deployment of AI-enabled marine systems. As climate change accelerates environmental degradation and alters maritime boundaries and resource distribution, unregulated AI use risks intensifying environmental harm, jurisdictional disputes, and technological inequality—especially for climate-vulnerable coastal and small island States such as the Maldives.The article argues that existing international legal obligations relating to marine environmental protection, due diligence, and international cooperation can be reinterpreted to encompass AI-mediated activities in marine space. Through doctrinal analysis of UNCLOS, international environmental law, and emerging AI governance norms, the article examines state responsibility, liability, and environmental impact assessment obligations applicable to autonomous maritime systems. It proposes a normative framework that integrates climate obligations, precaution, transparency, and equitable access to AI technologies, contributing to climate-resilient and just ocean governance in an era of rapid technological and environmental change.