Ocean-based climate solutions in Nationally Determined Contributions : June 2023 update

There is increasing recognition of the linkages between the ocean and climate change. As Parties to the Paris Agreement communicate their second round of national climate goals, this policy brief tracks the inclusion of concrete, ocean-based mitigation and adaptation actions. It sorts commitments first by ocean-based solution and then by country. Updates to this brief will post regularly as countries submit further NDCs. This update analyzes 98 NDC submissions and updates from: Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, European Union, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Sudan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Türkiye, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, United States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam

The geopolitical economy of Thailand’s marine plasticpollution crisis

Currently approximately 9 million tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans annually. This is a majortransboundary problem on a global scale that threatens marine wildlife, coastal ecologies, human health andlivelihoods. Our concern in this paper is with the environmental governance of marine plastic pollution thatemanates from Thailand, the sixth biggest contributor globally. By zooming in on land-based polluters inThailand, we highlight both the systemic nature of the marine plastic problem and the relative impunity withwhich drivers of transboundary environmental harm function at all levels of governance. Drawing from 19 inter-views conducted with actors from the public, private and non-profit sectors, we examine three stages of theproblem: production, consumption and waste management. We found that three major barriers preventThailand’s government, private sector and citizens from engaging in the sort collective action needed to reducemarine plastic pollution. They are: (i) insufficient incentives to enact political change; (ii) scalar disconnects inwaste management; and (iii) inadequate public and private sector ownership over plastic waste reduction. Asthe state alone cannot change corporate and consumer behaviour, we argue that multi-stakeholder efforts acrossorganisational scales of governance and administrative boundaries are needed to address the barrier