Restoring marine environmental damage: Can the Costa Rica v Nicaragua compensation case influence the BBNJ negotiations?

The negotiations of a new international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions are at a crucial stage. This article reviews the first adjudication by the International Court of Justice of a compensation claim for environmental damage ( Costa Rica v Nicaragua ) to see if the case can influence the negotiation of provisions in the new instrument on liability and compensation, as well as on the obligation to restore damaged biodiversity and degraded ecosystems. By doing so, the instrument will close long‐standing lacunae in the law of the sea and thereby engender greater marine environmental accountability.