Environmental Policy and Law

After describing how the marine environment is tottering in the face of the triple environmental crisis, this article explores the limited governance progressions at the global and regional levels in addressing the threats of pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss in the especially vulnerable Arctic.For pollution, key limitations include slow and arduous processes to add chemicals for control under the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions and reliance at the regional level on a fragmented array of pollution studies and projects but without specific region-wide legally binding pollution standards.For climate change, the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement's temperature targets which is especially problematic for the Arctic cryosphere while the Arctic Council has largely been limited to providing general statements of concern and aspirational calls for enhanced climate mitigation and adaptation actions.For marine biodiversity losses, a pan-Arctic network of marine protected areas has yet to be developed and various implementation challenges surround the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean including the need to ensure adequate financial, human resource and technical support.The paper concludes by highlighting some promising future governance directions.They include: the conclusion of a global treaty on plastic pollution; implementation of a new Global Framework on Chemicals -For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste; expected further clarifications from international tribunals on State responsibilities to address climate change; and regional implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the new agreement under the UN Convention on Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.