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24 | POLLUTION AND HEALTH

A LEGAL MATTER
Plastic pollution

in the hands of the law

International environmental law continues to make progress to curb plastic
pollution. A global problem, a legal quandary.

On the initiative of Pascale Ricard, CNRS research “100% of the samples we took from European rivers
officer at the University of Aix-Marseille’s Centre of were contaminated with microplastics”, confirmed
International and Community Legal Studies and Re- Jean-François Ghiglione at the start of the session,
search, an entire workshop morning was dedicated CNRS head of research at the Microbial Oceano-
to this topic addressed by international environmental graphy Laboratory in Banyuls-sur-Mer, following the
law, alongside marine sciences. On 24 March 2021, scientific mission “Microplastics 2019”, which he
during the Monaco Ocean Week’s digital meeting, ex- led on board the schooner Tara. Rivers are the main
perts offered their point of view on a burgeoning field carriers of plastic pollution into the oceans, which, “if
involving various disciplines. nothing is done, could increase threefold in 20 years.
But with a proactive policy, we can reduce this pol-
lution by 80%!” the marine biologist continued. What
THE LAW OF THE SEA, support can we expect from international law? What
A PIONEER is the latest progress made by environmental law
on this topic? The key shortcomings which must be
Plastic pollution emerged in the law of the sea around addressed? The Monaco Ocean Week workshop fo-
forty years ago, when the International Maritime Or- cused on these questions, fostering a constructive
ganization legislated on plastic waste dumped by dialogue.
vessels. So the law of the sea was the first to offer
a response to this pollution, which mainly comes
from land (80%). Since then, environmental law has
expanded, adjusted and structured itself around the
plastic problem, a global, polymorphic and often invi-
sible “disease”, with the oceans showing the symp-
toms.