Iceland’s commitment to clean beaches : a legal and policy analysis of strategies for marine litter reduction

Abstract

Marine litter has been a prevalent threat to the marine ecosystems, public health and economic activities that depend on the ocean. Iceland, as an island nation with a strong economic reliance on its fisheries, faces the challenges of marine litter like any other country. This thesis will explore Iceland’s obligations and commitments related to the fight against increasing marine litter. It will further examine how Iceland’s national measures correspond to the international legal framework and how impactful they have been in reducing marine litter, both in its waters, and at its source of waste generation and plastic production. This research reveals that Iceland has taken considerable steps to address marine litter, first and foremost by aligning its national measures with the international legal background and introducing additional measures, such as a beach clean-up network.Coordinated efforts, enforcement mechanisms, the mention of marine litter in regulations, especially as a form of pollution, and comprehensive data have been identified as some of the main gaps in Iceland’s approach. The lack of comprehensive data, in particular, hampers the ability to formulate more targeted measures and analyse the effectiveness of existing measures. This thesis argues that a more focused approach to Iceland-related issues is needed, primarily to fulfil more general international obligations of precaution and safeguarding the marine environment. While such a due diligence obligation of taking care and preventing harm may be loosely formulated and up to the interpretation of the individual states, it is essential to use precaution, even when facing uncertainty, to fulfil the duty to protect the environment from any harm. It is therefore necessary to implement new and enhanced actions to more effectively reduce marine litter and contribute to the global efforts of protecting the marine environment.