Towards an international legal framework for the clean-up of marine plastic pollution

• Department of Law

This event features a discussion with Dr. Sam Varvastian (Cardiff University).

This paper examines the role of international law in addressing the clean-up of plastic pollution in the ocean. Despite growing concern over marine plastic pollution, there are currently no instruments specifically requiring States to clean up plastics from the ocean. Existing legal frameworks – including within international regimes on climate change and biodiversity – address marine protection primarily through prevention, due diligence, and cooperation, rather than requiring remediation of existing pollution. In contrast, the negotiations on the Global Plastics Treaty offer the most promising avenue to specifically address responsibilities for both prevention and remediation of marine plastic pollution. Yet the treaty text proposals have been criticised by stakeholders for lacking clarity, binding obligations, and ambition, including with regard to legacy plastic waste. With the prospects of the treaty remaining uncertain, the significant legal gap in addressing ocean plastic clean-up at the global level persists. The paper argues that, given the scale and impacts of marine pollution, the remediation and clean-up of existing plastics should remain a key priority in the design of any future international legal framework on plastic pollution.

Speaker:

Dr. Sam Varvastian is a Lecturer in Law at the School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University. Sam works on human rights, environmental protection, and public health, with a particular focus on challenges posed by global problems such as climate change, plastic pollution, and biodiversity loss. His recently published book Human Rights Approaches to Planetary Crises: From Climate Change to Plastic Pollution explores the application of human rights mechanisms in response to these global environmental problems.