The United Nations Basel Convention’s Global Plastic Waste Partnership: History, Evolution and Progress

The pollution of our marine and terrestrial environment by plastic waste is one of the most pressing global environmental challenges faced today. Developing a circular plastic economy and limiting plastic pollution requires multilevel actions from different stakeholders including oil and petrochemical producers, plastic manufacturers, consumer goods companies, retailers, consumers, waste managers, waste management authorities, plastic recyclers and others. As well as cleaning up the enormous quantities of plastic waste already in our oceans and lakes, there is an urgent need to strengthen countries’ capacities to prevent, minimize and properly manage this waste. The Basel Convention, the most comprehensive global environmental treaty dealing with hazardous and other wastes, offers an important part of the solution. In addition to its provisions aimed at controlling the exports and imports of hazardous wastes and other wastes generated from households and ensuring their environmentally sound management, the Convention also seeks to tackle the problem at its source through prevention and minimization. With the addition of an amendment to the Convention specifically tackling plastic waste, and the establishment of a Plastic Waste Partnership, the Convention is positioned at the forefront in the fight against plastic pollution.

Part III Conceptual Pillars, Ch.22 Good Faith

This chapter studies the principle of good faith, which has been declared by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as ‘a well-established principle of international law’. Through judicial pronouncements and state practice, it has come to acquire concrete legal content. The principle of good faith is closely linked to the concept of legal security; it provides certainty and foreseeability in society, and as such is fundamental and necessary to any legal system. The chapter examines the role that the principle of good faith could play, first, in general international law relating to the environment, focusing on three broad areas of environmental treaty performance, environmental cooperation, and due diligence. It then considers the more concrete role that the principle of good faith could play within multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) as special legal regimes. Finally, the chapter analyses two concrete contexts within which the principle of good faith could be engaged to perform specific normative functions in the operation of MEAs, namely in non-compliance and ‘pledge and review’ mechanisms.

Part IX International Environmental Law in National/Regional Courts, Ch.66 Oceania

This chapter addresses international environmental law in the courts of Oceania. The Oceania region stretches across Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, embracing fourteen independent states, two states in free association with New Zealand, and offshore territories of three other states. The states of Oceania have generally been strong advocates for international environmental law and have adopted notable regional environmental treaties. A range of topics of international environmental law has been canvassed in Oceania courts, from sustainable fisheries management to the protection of world heritage. Reflecting the major threat that global warming poses to Oceania, cases addressing climate issues represent a growing proportion of this region's environmental jurisprudence. However, the primary barrier to greater application of international environmental law in Oceania courts is the incomplete implementation of environmental treaty commitments in domestic law.

Part IV Normative Development, Ch.24 Multilateral Environmental Treaty Making

This chapter reflects on multilateral environmental treaty making. From its inception, international environmental law has consisted primarily of treaties and other forms of negotiated instruments, which offer several advantages over more informal mechanisms of international cooperation. Traditionally, treaties were comparatively static arrangements, memorializing the rights and duties of the parties as agreed at a particular point in time. Today, environmental agreements are usually dynamic arrangements, establishing ongoing regulatory processes. The result is that, in most environmental regimes, the treaty text itself represents just the tip of the normative iceberg. Most norms are adopted through more flexible techniques, which allow international environmental law to respond quickly to the emergence of new problems and new knowledge. The chapter then introduces the basic types of international instruments, analysing why states negotiate and accept them. It describes the process by which agreements are created, from the inception of negotiations to the adoption and entry into force of the resulting instrument. The chapter also explores various design issues in developing international environmental agreements.

Can we Make the Oceans Greener? The Successes and Failures of UNCLOS as an Environmental Treaty

No description supplied

Can we Make the Oceans Greener? The Successes and Failures of UNCLOS as an Environmental Treaty

No description supplied