Governance and Measures for the Prevention of Marine Debris

Marine microplastic pollution is increasingly seen as a transboundary problem that requires priority attention and represents a unique governance challenge, given the associated risks and ubiquity of microplastics in the marine environment. Various governance measures to reduce the use of microplastics and to prevent further pollution of the marine environment have been adopted or are under consideration by actors at different levels of governance. This chapter reviews these governance measures and we argue that the primary concern of regulators should be to prevent both primary and secondary microplastic leakage into the marine ecosystems. We proceed with the further assumption that most microplastic enters marine ecosystems from land-based sources, so policies designed to curtail this particular form of plastic pollution are given due emphasis in this chapter. The prevention of microplastic pollution in the oceans is inherently complex, and this chapter examines the governance framework on the global, regional, national, and subnational levels. Both international collaboration and complimentary governance by non-state actors are important in order to effectively prevent microplastic pollution entering the oceans. Evidence from the examples analyzed throughout the chapter confirms that a comprehensive, systems-level approach, including a combination of diverse prevention measures and the involvement of a wide range of actors, is necessary.