Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

An International Legal Framework for Marine Plastics Pollution

This legal analysis reviews the current international framework for regulating marine plastics and identifies significant gaps and inconsistencies across treaties and agreements. The chapter argues that stronger, more unified global legal instruments are needed to effectively reduce plastic pollution in the world's oceans.

2023 Cambridge University Press eBooks 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Legal Analysis of the Prevention of Marine Microplastics Pollution

This legal analysis examines international law frameworks governing marine microplastic pollution prevention, identifying obstacles including enforcement difficulties, weak jurisdictional clarity, and insufficient coordination among existing treaty regimes, while noting growing attention to microplastics in UN General Assembly resolutions and calling for stronger multilateral legal mechanisms.

2022 Law and Economy
Article Tier 2

International Legal Systems in Tackling the Marine Plastic Pollution: A Critical Analysis of UNCLOS and MARPOL

This legal analysis examines how two major international agreements, UNCLOS and MARPOL, address marine plastic pollution and identifies significant gaps in their ability to reduce it. The existing laws lack enforceable requirements for reducing land-based plastic waste and have uneven enforcement of rules for ship-based discharges. The paper proposes strengthening international law to promote a circular economy approach, which matters because marine plastic breaks down into microplastics that enter the seafood supply.

2025 Water 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Legal Approaches to Reduce Plastic Marine Pollution: Challenges and Global Governance

This review examined legal approaches to reducing marine plastic pollution and found that while international frameworks like the International Maritime Organization's MARPOL Annex V and regional agreements provide useful foundations, significant governance gaps and enforcement challenges remain in addressing the global scale of marine plastic contamination.

2021 ANNALS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PERSPECTIVE 32 citations
Article Tier 2

International Law and Regulation of Marine Microplastics: Current Situation, Problems, and Development

This study evaluated the current international legal framework governing marine microplastic pollution and identified significant gaps in regulatory coverage. Researchers found that existing global and regional legal instruments lack the specificity and enforcement mechanisms needed to effectively address microplastic contamination. The study offers recommendations for strengthening international law to better regulate the sources and impacts of marine microplastic pollution.

2024 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

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

This legal paper reviews international frameworks relevant to plastic pollution and argues for a binding global agreement specifically targeting plastic pollution, beyond existing resolutions. A comprehensive international treaty is increasingly seen as necessary to meaningfully reduce plastic pollution, including microplastics.

2018 Review of European Comparative & International Environmental Law 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine Plastic Monitoring, Assessment, and Policy

This review covers the current state of marine plastic monitoring systems, assessment frameworks, and policy instruments globally, examining data collection methods, international agreements, and gaps in enforcement. The authors highlight that inconsistent monitoring protocols and lack of binding global treaty mechanisms remain critical barriers to effective marine plastic governance.

2025
Article Tier 2

Environmental legislation analysis improvement approach of global marine plastic pollution from the perspective of holistic system view

This review analyzes international laws and regulations aimed at preventing marine plastic pollution, from United Nations conventions to individual country legislation. The authors find that current legal frameworks are fragmented and fail to address the full scope of the problem, including microplastics entering human bloodstreams through the food chain. They propose a comprehensive Marine Plastics Convention that emphasizes environmental justice and stricter risk prevention measures.

2024 Frontiers in Marine Science 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Liability Framework for Microplastic Pollution in Marine Ecosystems

This legal analysis argues that current international treaties — including UNCLOS, MARPOL, and the Basel Convention — are too fragmented and vague to hold anyone accountable for microplastic pollution in the ocean. The authors identify critical gaps around attribution, lifecycle governance, and monitoring standards, and call for a binding global liability framework built around extended producer responsibility and uniform scientific standards. Without clearer rules about who is responsible and what they must do, widespread marine microplastic contamination is likely to continue unchecked.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Liability Framework for Microplastic Pollution in Marine Ecosystems

This legal analysis argues that current international treaties — including UNCLOS, MARPOL, and the Basel Convention — are too fragmented and vague to hold anyone accountable for microplastic pollution in the ocean. The authors identify critical gaps around attribution, lifecycle governance, and monitoring standards, and call for a binding global liability framework built around extended producer responsibility and uniform scientific standards. Without clearer rules about who is responsible and what they must do, widespread marine microplastic contamination is likely to continue unchecked.

2026 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

International Water Law’s Role in Addressing the Problem of Marine Plastic Pollution: A Vital Piece in a Complex Puzzle!

This legal analysis examined the role of international water law in addressing marine plastic pollution, arguing that existing water governance frameworks have largely overlooked plastics as a water resource management problem. The author advocates for integrating plastic pollution controls into international water law instruments.

2022 Chinese Journal of Environmental Law 14 citations
Review Tier 2

Politics and the plastic crisis: A review throughout the plastic life cycle

This political science review analyzed over 180 studies on the governance of plastics across their full life cycle, finding that marine pollution and microplastics are driving the fastest growth in plastic policy research. The authors identify fragmented governance architectures and the absence of binding international agreements as major obstacles to addressing the global plastic crisis.

2019 Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Energy and Environment 466 citations
Article Tier 2

Regulation, Legislation and Policy—An International Perspective

This review examines international regulatory frameworks for marine plastic pollution under UNCLOS and related agreements, analyzing the obligations of national governments to prevent, reduce, and control marine pollution and the challenges of implementation.

2023 Springer textbooks in earth sciences, geography and environment 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Challenges for Regulation and Management of Microplastic in Environment and Proposed Changes

This review examines failures in international law and national regulations to adequately address microplastic pollution in water bodies, arguing that recent treaty negotiations have been insufficient and proposing regulatory changes to better manage microplastics in the environment.

2025
Article Tier 2

Combating plastic pollution in international law: lex lata and lex ferenda

This paper examines the current state of international law addressing plastic pollution, analyzing both existing legal frameworks and proposed future regulations. The study highlights that global plastic production has surged to 390 million tons annually with only 9% recycled, underscoring the urgent need for a comprehensive international treaty.

2024 Moscow Journal of International Law 2 citations
Article Tier 2

From micro to macro: legal tools for combating plastic pollution at national, EU, and international levels

Researchers analyzed how laws at the national, European Union, and international levels have evolved to address microplastic pollution, tracing the shift from voluntary guidelines to binding rules like the EU's 2023 restriction on synthetic microparticles. The review identifies ongoing challenges — including inconsistent definitions and weak enforcement — and calls for stronger global governance to close the legal gaps.

2026 Environmental Sciences Europe
Article Tier 2

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea - still relevant to protection of the marine environment?

This chapter evaluates whether the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains a useful tool for protecting the marine environment, including from plastic pollution. The author argues that UNCLOS has significant gaps when applied to modern pollution threats. Strengthening or supplementing UNCLOS with new agreements may be necessary to address marine plastic pollution effectively.

2023 Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The Role of Legislation, Regulatory Initiatives and Guidelines on the Control of Plastic Pollution

This review examines existing plastic pollution regulations globally, finding that despite many proposals and national bans, the overall effectiveness of legislation is unclear and most measures focus narrowly on marine plastics or single-use items. The authors argue that laws often lag behind science and face practical limitations given how deeply embedded plastics are in daily life.

2020 Frontiers in Environmental Science 220 citations
Article Tier 2

Addressing Microplastic Pollution via the Global Plastic Treaty

This paper discusses the role of the global plastic treaty in addressing microplastic pollution, evaluating policy mechanisms, international governance challenges, and the scientific evidence needed to support binding reduction targets.

2024 SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Bottlenecks of Global Plastic Strategy and the Way Forward of Microplastics Management

This review examines bottlenecks in global plastic waste management strategies, arguing that rising plastic use in everyday activities has outpaced regulatory and logistical capacity, and proposing pathways forward for more effective microplastics management at a global scale.

2025
Review Tier 2

Microplastics: A Review of Policies and Responses

This critical review assembled current knowledge on policies and regulatory responses to plastic pollution globally, including legislative measures, economic instruments, and voluntary commitments. The authors identify a gap between scientific evidence and policy action and call for stronger, more coordinated international governance of plastic pollution.

2022 Microplastics 79 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustentabilidade: Materiais Plásticos, O Great Pacific Garbage Patch E Propostas Sustentáveis No Contexto Da Globalização Contemporânea

This Brazilian Portuguese legal and policy review analyzes international and domestic sustainability proposals around plastic pollution, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and European single-use plastic regulations. The author argues that no effective global plastic elimination program is possible without coordinated non-state institutional frameworks and enforcement mechanisms.

2021 Revista Eletrônica Direito e Política
Article Tier 2

Why we need an international agreement on marine plastic pollution

This commentary argues for the establishment of an international agreement to address marine plastic pollution, noting that plastic debris including microplastics is a pervasive global threat to marine biodiversity, ecosystem services, and potentially human health. The authors highlight that existing regulatory frameworks are insufficient to manage the transboundary nature of the problem. The study calls for measurable reduction targets and coordinated international action to curb the flow of plastic into the world's oceans.

2017 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 275 citations
Article Tier 2

Legislation and Policy on Pollution Prevention and the Control of Marine Microplastics

This review analyses international legislation and policies targeting marine microplastic pollution, finding that most existing regulations focus narrowly on microbeads while failing to address other microplastic types, and identifies three systemic dilemmas that impede more comprehensive regulatory frameworks.

2022 Water 33 citations