Rethinking marine plastics pollution: Science diplomacy and multi-level governance
| Published date | 01 March 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208523231183909 |
| Author | Macarena Beltran,Benny Tjahjono,Thomas Noto Suoneto,Rakyan Tanjung,Jorge Julião |
| Date | 01 March 2024 |
Rethinking marine plastics
pollution: Science
diplomacy and multi-level
governance
Macarena Beltran
Coventry University, UK
Benny Tjahjono
Coventry University, UK
Thomas Noto Suoneto
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN),
Indonesia
Rakyan Tanjung
Coventry University, UK
Jorge Julião
Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal
Abstract
Although science diplomacy has been gaining relevance in foreign policy to solve envir-
onmental challenges, critical questions concerning what different instruments mean
under the term ‘science diplomacy’and whether science diplomacy does contribute
to the progress in solving environmental issues remain unanswered. We explore
those questions by linking science diplomacy salient features through documentary ana-
lysis of international instruments addressing the plastics pollution in the ocean. We find
that from a science diplomacy and multi-level governance perspective, the responsibil-
ities and capabilities of emergent actors of cross-level governance are also important,
leading to more attention being paid to changes in the role of national authorities,
Corresponding author:
Benny Tjahjono, Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK.
Email: benny.tjahjono@coventry.ac.uk
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
2024, Vol. 90(1) 237–258
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00208523231183909
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
away from passive leadership to cross-cutting coalitions supported by the salient fea-
tures of science diplomacy, and redefining dominant discursive approaches that have
framed plastics waste.
Points for practitioners
As a result of the cost and limitations of the current international mechanisms, there is
currently no incentive for individual countries to take action against marine plastic pol-
lution.
Science diplomacy and multi-level governance can contribute to international cooper-
ation, foreign policy and national strategies.
Leading efforts to engage countries with fewer scientific and technological capabilities
could benefit countries’foreign policy.
Keywords
Science diplomacy, multi-level governance, environmental governance, international
relations, marine pollution, plastics pollution
Introduction
Science diplomacy (SD) has gained a foothold in foreign policy to solve global environ-
mental issues. Indeed, SD has been envisioned as one of the policies for the European
Commission to collectively address huge challenges such as environmental degradation
(Moedas, 2016). The case study of substances depleting the ozone layer has been exem-
plified as a successful case that interlinks science and diplomacy. Science was used as a
source of early warning for the depletion of the ozone layer, a force for change, a
confidence-building activity, a measure of regulatory performance and a tool for diplo-
macy, specifically under the 1987 Montreal Protocol (Sarma and Andersen, 2011).
However, the complex problem caused by plastics pollution in the ocean –impacting live-
lihoods, health, climate change, socio-economy and geopolitics –is one of the main unre-
solved global environmental issues. The lessons learned in the Montreal Protocol could
be transferred to solve plastics pollution. Yet, so far, it has not been sufficiently clarified
what different international instruments mean under the term science diplomacy in
solving the issue of plastics pollution in the ocean.
The existing international, regional and national initiatives and policies have not pro-
duced the expected results (Agamuthu et al., 2019). There are multiple regulatory gaps
and problems in international ocean plastics governance (Chen, 2015; Gold et al.,
2014), including the lack of harmonisation of international laws, weak coherence
across national policies, weak coordination of international organisations and inadequate
science–policy interaction (Ferraro and Failler, 2020). Analyses of governance emphasise
the importance of concurrent instruments at the different levels of governance (Chen,
2015; Gold et al., 2014), supra-national, international and national, to combat plastics
238 International Review of Administrative Sciences 90(1)
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