1. I agree with the Agent for Japan that this is an “historic proceeding”. Three outstanding global citizens are before this Tribunal in a case involving regional cooperation in which significant natural and economic resources are involved. The case presents the issue of how scientific uncertainty1 can be handled in a judicial context. It involves questions relating to the interpretation of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its interaction with cognate conventions. Above all, in this case the Tribunal makes decisions of fundamental importance to the institution of provisional measures and potentially of critical relevance to an aspect of international environmental law.

2. This Separate Opinion is offered in an effort to elucidate my views on these last two aspects of the Tribunal’s Order.