The Ocean Cleanup Covenant with the Netherlands
The Ocean Cleanup (TOC) recently signed an agreement with the State of the Netherlands concerning the legal status of its activities, carried out on the high seas. The Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic (LAPP) carried out research that may have contributed to the conclusion of this covenant.
LAPP contributors Claude Jost and Kevin Karlen wrote a blog about the research they carried out for The Ocean Cleanup. In May 2017 LAPP presented the prelimanary results, stating that the activities on the high seas of TOC could be labelled as 'marine scientific research' (MSR). The agreement concluded in June 2018 applies the provisions on MSR of the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention in analogy to the cleanup activities. Read their blog on Leiden Law Blog. The report is available under Publications.