Brazil advances over the Area: The inclusion of the Rio Grande Rise within the Brazilian outer continental shelf and its consequences for other states and for the common heritage of mankind

This article explores one particular aspect of the latest Brazilian partial revised submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which is the inclusion of the Rio Grande Rise (RGR) within the country's continental margin. This incorporation raises the Brazilian outer continental shelf from less than one million to over two million square kilometers. Moreover, part of the RGR is currently under a 15-year exploration contract between a Brazilian state-owned company and the International Seabed Authority, but the Brazilian government now intends to withdraw its sponsorship, which would put an end to the contract. The article concludes that the incorporation of the RGR by Brazil has negative impacts on other states and on the common heritage of mankind, mainly in terms of restrictions to marine scientific research and benefit-sharing from future exploitations of mineral resources.