Significant benefits from international cooperation over marine plastic pollution

Significant benefits from international cooperation over marine plastic pollution | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Significant benefits from international cooperation over marine plastic pollution Frans de Vries, Nicola Beaumont, Tobias Börger, James Clark, Nicholas Hanley, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3328986/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans threatens marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and ultimately people. The connected nature of the marine environment suggests that coordinated actions by countries sharing an ocean border may provide more effective pollution control than unilateral actions by any one country. However, economic theory and empirical evidence suggest that countries often fail to cooperate, even when joint economic benefits would be higher under cooperation. Here we present a modelling framework for determining the potential economic benefits of cooperative marine plastic pollution (MPP) management. The framework integrates an estimated plastic transfer matrix with game theory to derive the potential economic benefits of international cooperation for 16 countries bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. A fully cooperative outcome leads to a substantial reduction in MPP, resulting in significant aggregate net economic benefits. Similar findings apply under alternative scenarios and considering modelling uncertainties. Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Economics Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Decision making Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3328986","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":249114303,"identity":"7742d519-7d31-4789-9cf4-06479ec44f9c","order_by":0,"name":"Frans de Vries","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9gYwxQzEjEBmBUMCwwGIjAEuLTwHULScIU0LSFcbMVqkDz97+IPBWs7g9uHGhz/n2eXx3W5g/PCD4bAxTi18aebGPAzpxgbnEpuNebclF0veOcAs2cNw2AyXFnseBjNpBobDiTN7GNukGbcxJ264kcAAErHBaQsP+zdJoDPqgVraf/6cUw/SwvwbvxYeMwkehsMJ/DxAv/M2HAZpYQPZgtNhQC1l0jwG6Yb9PIzN0jzHjhdL3khss+wxSMftfR72bZI/Kqzl2XjYH378UVOdx3cj+fANoIhhAy49YIAaB6A4xRkro2AUjIJRMAqIAQDHHU+Qtets/wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0462-5035","institution":"University of Aberdeen","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Frans","middleName":"","lastName":"de Vries","suffix":""},{"id":249114304,"identity":"5e9fcb87-3f9d-475f-a5ea-bc8b02e5f1b5","order_by":1,"name":"Nicola Beaumont","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Plymouth Marine Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicola","middleName":"","lastName":"Beaumont","suffix":""},{"id":249114305,"identity":"3f8be9cc-19ec-4ce8-afb1-fa7eb6d48c2e","order_by":2,"name":"Tobias Börger","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4485-2518","institution":"Berlin School of Economics and Law","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tobias","middleName":"","lastName":"Börger","suffix":""},{"id":249114306,"identity":"78fd13f5-f76b-412f-899e-1b27bebe8e94","order_by":3,"name":"James Clark","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Plymouth Marine Laboratory","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"James","middleName":"","lastName":"Clark","suffix":""},{"id":249114307,"identity":"264afa26-0b13-491d-b867-e8ad02d28790","order_by":4,"name":"Nicholas Hanley","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Glasgow","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicholas","middleName":"","lastName":"Hanley","suffix":""},{"id":249114308,"identity":"93357139-d5f9-45ea-a592-769023c0fb5e","order_by":5,"name":"Robert Johnston","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Clark University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Robert","middleName":"","lastName":"Johnston","suffix":""},{"id":249114309,"identity":"616df4c5-4b23-42af-bab2-579ab03f18ad","order_by":6,"name":"Keila Meginnis","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Evidera","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Keila","middleName":"","lastName":"Meginnis","suffix":""},{"id":249114310,"identity":"603c4a0d-9644-442b-9c38-b58147b1412a","order_by":7,"name":"Christopher Stapenhurst","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Budapest University of Technology and Economics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christopher","middleName":"","lastName":"Stapenhurst","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-09-05 21:05:17","currentVersionCode":2,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3328986/v2","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3328986/v2","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":59203673,"identity":"8ec67bb7-28b3-4b68-b658-7be1791d9674","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-27 15:45:31","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1503997,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"BenefitsInternationalCooperationMPP260624.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3328986/v2_covered_5a48cf2a-9b1b-4855-8c07-eaa12d105d9e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"Significant benefits from international cooperation over marine plastic pollution","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3328986/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3328986/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePlastic pollution in the world’s oceans threatens marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and ultimately people. The connected nature of the marine environment suggests that coordinated actions by countries sharing an ocean border may provide more effective pollution control than unilateral actions by any one country. However, economic theory and empirical evidence suggest that countries often fail to cooperate, even when joint economic benefits would be higher under cooperation. Here we present a modelling framework for determining the potential economic benefits of cooperative marine plastic pollution (MPP) management. The framework integrates an estimated plastic transfer matrix with game theory to derive the potential economic benefits of international cooperation for 16 countries bordering the North Atlantic Ocean. A fully cooperative outcome leads to a substantial reduction in MPP, resulting in significant aggregate net economic benefits. Similar findings apply under alternative scenarios and considering modelling uncertainties.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Significant benefits from international cooperation over marine plastic pollution","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":2,"date":"2024-06-27 15:29:20","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3328986/v2","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":1,"date":"2023-11-14 06:08:42","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3328986/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7681cbcb-2013-4e00-8549-bdf959e9164b","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 27th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":26295560,"name":"Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Economics"},{"id":26295561,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences/Physical oceanography"},{"id":26295562,"name":"Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Decision making"},{"id":26295563,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-02-21T05:05:28+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-06-27 15:29:20","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v2","identity":"rs-3328986","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3328986","identity":"rs-3328986","version":["v2"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}