ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.

Sec. Marine Pollution

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1597932

This article is part of the Research TopicAdvances in Marine Environmental Protection: Challenges, Solutions and Perspectives Volume IIView all 19 articles

The Legal and Socioeconomic Challenges for Environmental Protection in Marine Policy and the Silk Route Maritime

Provisionally accepted
Muhammad  Bilawal KhaskheliMuhammad Bilawal Khaskheli1Yincheng  LiYincheng Li2Yongchen  ZhaoYongchen Zhao1*Wang  ShuminWang Shumin2*
  • 1Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
  • 2Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The intersection of legal frameworks and socioeconomic interests poses a significant challenge to ocean policy focused on environmental protection. This article examines the complexities of international regulation, national interests, and local needs. Legal frameworks like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provide a foundation for sustainable use and environmental protection. However, the implementation of these frameworks varies significantly around the world.Socioeconomic disparities and their impact on governance and resource management further undermine resource utilisation and contribute to environmental degradation. The research compares and contrasts the environmental laws of various countries and examines the laws of nations under the United Nations' global governance. It has six tables and three figures that provide statistics reflecting global performance in marine and environmental law, designed to protect the world.Therefore, the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor must tackle these issues through collaborative efforts that engage coastal governance participation. Effective ocean governance within these frameworks can encourage regional cooperation, ensuring legal commitments align with socioeconomic realities. Ultimately, it is crucial to maintain a balance that supports marine conservation and sustainable development. This paper's research approach adopts a literature review with secondary data from official databases, such as UNCLOS, the United Nations, and other official databases. We also utilise the consequences of recently published papers in high-impact publishers such as Frontiers, Oxford University Press, Springer, Elsevier, IEEE, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, and MDPI. For cross-border cooperation, there are possibilities and pitfalls of harmonising monitoring and enforcement of policy. Adaptive management strategies and institutional collaboration are needed to pursue these complexities, develop sustainability and resilience in marine ecosystems, and inform more effective environmental protection policies.

Keywords: Marine policy, Environmental protection, governance, Law, BRI, socioeconomic

Received: 21 Mar 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Bilawal Khaskheli, Li, Zhao and Shumin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Yongchen Zhao, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, Hainan Province, China
Wang Shumin, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, 116026, Liaoning Province, China

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