Advancing the international regulation of plastic pollution beyond the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on marine litter and microplastics

• Date: 01 November 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12258
• Published date: 01 November 2018

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Advancing the international regulation of plastic pollution

beyond the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution

on marine litter and microplastics

Giulia Carlini

|

Konstantin Kleine

Correspondence

Emails: gcarlini@ciel.org;

konstantin.kleine@graduateinstitute.ch

Plastic pollution has received growing recognition as an issue of global concern,

including the question of how to regulate it at the international level. Despite the

existence of many instruments relevant to marine plastic litter, there is no interna-

tional agreement that focuses primarily on combating plastic pollution. While the

annual global rate of plastic production is growing, no international instrument is

addressing plastic across its full life cycle, from production to consumption to dis-

posal. This article describes the role of the United Nations Environment Assembly

(UNEA) and the evolution of its resolutions on marine plastic pollution. UNEA's lat-

est resolution on marine litter and microplastics is paving the way for the global

community to improve the current international framework and address the ‘plastic

crisis’. This opens questions on the approach and scope of a new framework. The

article suggests that framing the problem as one of ‘marine litter’limits the scope

of possible solutions to waste management. Reframing the subject from a marine lit-

ter problem to a broader plastic pollution issue presents an opportunity to develop

a comprehensive approach and, therefore, a more effective global framework that

encompasses not only plastic litter, but also the reduction of plastic production and

consumption.

1

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INTRODUCTION

The claim that if we were to pick a random object from the ocean

30 years from now, we would more likely have plastic than fish in

our hands has catalysed international attention for the issue of mar-

ine plastic pollution.

1

Between approximately 5 and 13 million

tonnes of plastic are estimated to contaminate the oceans each year,

roughly the equivalent of a full garbage truck every minute.

2

If this

business‐as‐usual scenario continues unabated, the ocean might, by

weight, contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

3

The marine aspect of plastic pollution, in particular, has been

attracting major campaigns, media attention and inter‐State action:

in 2017, ‘the UN declare[d] war on ocean plastic’, launching a cam-

paign called ‘#CleanSeas’,

4

and the Group of Twenty (G20) agreed

on the ‘G20 Action Plan on Marine Litter’;

5

in 2018, several States

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1

Ellen MacArthur Foundation, ‘The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plas-

tics’(2016); see for the critique of this assumption: L Hornak, ‘Will There Be More Fish or

Plastic in the Sea in 2050?’(BBC News, 15 February 2016); JR Jambeck et al, ‘Plastic

Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean’(2015) 347 Science 768; S Jennings et al, ‘Global‐

scale Predictions of Community and Ecosystem Properties from Simple Ecological Theory’

(2008) 275 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 1375; S Jen-

nings and K Collingridge, ‘Predicting Consumer Biomass, Size–Structure, Production, Catch

Potential, Responses to Fishing and Associated Uncertainties in the World's Marine Ecosys-

tems’(2015) 10 PLoS One e0133794; RA Watson, TJ Pitcher and S Jennings, ‘Plenty More

Fish in the Sea?’(2017) 18 Fish and Fisheries 105.

2

Jambeck et al (n 1); R Geyer, JR Jambeck and KL Law, ‘Production, Use, and Fate of All

Plastics Ever Made’(2017) 3 Science Advances e1700782; Ellen MacArthur Foundation

(n 1) 29.

3

Ellen MacArthur Foundation (n 1) 28.

4

‘UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic’(UN Environment, 23 February 2017) <http://www.

unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-declares-war-ocean-plastic-0>.

5

G20, ‘G20 Action Plan on Marine Litter’(8 July 2017) <https://www.g20germany.de/Con

tent/DE/_Anlagen/G7_G20/2017-g20-marine-litter-en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4>.

DOI: 10.1111/reel.12258

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