Exploring the Option of a New Global Agreement on Marine Plastic Pollution – A Guide to the Issues

3.

What is a global agreement?

As of writing, no formal mandate for negotiations has been adopted, yet States and other actors have already begun exploring what a new global agreement on marine plastic pollution could look like, 42 and discussions are taking place in various forums and at various levels. As a background for these discussions, this section introduces and explains some of the basic terms and concepts of international law, and notes certain common features and points of variance. The section also introduces some of the typical challenges involved in the design of a new international agreement. 3.1 Basic terms and clarifications The term “global agreement” does not have a specific definition under international law. Like the related terms “multilateral agreement” or “international agreement”, however, it can be understood, at its most basic, as an agreement between sovereign

42 As an example, the Nordic countries decided, in April 2019, to “provide financial support for a Nordic Report to inform decision-making, sketching out the possible elements and approaches of a new global agreement”. The full declaration is available at https://www.norden.org/en/declaration/nordic-ministerial-declaration-call-global- agreement-combat-marine-plastic-litter-and. The report was launched on 19 October 2020 and is available at https://www.nordicreport2020.com.

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