Nowadays, the oceans are filled with plastic, both in its macro and micro forms. Both macro and micro-plastics enter the food chain when they become largely part of the marine environment from which we get our fishes ... more abstractNowadays, the oceans are filled with plastic, both in its macro and micro forms. Both macro and micro-plastics enter the food chain when they become largely part of the marine environment from which we get our fishes and seafood, as they often mistaken for food by marine animals. Thus far, various attempts have been made at the international level to regulate additional release of plastic pollution in the marine environment, but results remain very limited. While the ecosystem services on which we depend are threatened, why is it that we are collectively failing to prevent further release of plastic pollution in the oceans? Following Keohane and Victor’s regime complex theory, I argue that the lack of effective enforcement from the components present in the oceanic plastic pollution regime complex, as well as the latter’s incomplete ability to tackle all sources that cause such alarming results, impede on its ability to effectively counter further release.

International Relations, Globalization, Global Governance, Marine Ecology, Political Science, and 6 more