International context. The Ocean Cleanup’s activities are closely aligned with the ambitions of the State of the Netherlands regarding innovation, sustainability, ocean policy and tackling marine litter. The amendments to this Agreement take into account as far as possible current developments in the international field, such as the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (the BBNJ Agreement). Moreover, in 2022 the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted resolution 5/14, entitled ‘End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument’. For the Netherlands, the emphasis is mainly on preventing plastic pollution by promoting sustainable production and reducing the consumption of plastics. The Ocean Cleanup’s activities are in keeping with operative paragraph 3c: ‘To promote national and international cooperative measures to reduce plastic pollution in the marine environment, including existing plastic pollution.’ Point A modifies the definition of system in article 1.1. Only the word ‘floating’ [before ‘system’] has been removed. When the Agreement was drafted in 2018, the activities were carried out by a passive floating system which was not propelled or towed. Since then, The Ocean Cleanup has continued to develop the system and its manner of operation. The Ocean Cleanup now employs system 03, which has a U-shape that is actively towed by two vessels at an average speed of 0.75 metres per second (2.7 kilometres per hour). The provision in article 1.5 concerning the affixing of identification markings to the system in order to show the system’s connection with the Netherlands is changed from a requirement to a possibility (‘may’). In practice, it has proved difficult to affix identification markings to the system as they are washed away by the ocean. Nonetheless, The Ocean Cleanup continues to study ways of displaying the connection with the Netherlands. Article 2.2 relating to the traceability and visibility of the system (which was then a passive floating system) required that the system should be visible and identifiable in order to ensure the safety of navigation for other maritime traffic. The current system is towed by two vessels. Just as in the case of identification markings, it has proved difficult to affix instruments to the system itself. The obligation has thus been formulated differently. The system must st...
