The difficulties and path of China’s NGOs participating in marine plastic waste governance

The problem of marine plastic waste is one of the most urgent issues in global ocean governance and has received much attention from the international community. In the marine plastic waste governance system, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are indispensable actors with various advantages, playing a crucial role in mobilizing, supplementing, and implementing marine plastic waste governance. In China, NGOs have achieved rapid development over the past two decades and have participated in China’s marine plastic waste governance using political, social, and institutional approaches. However, compared with Western countries and large international NGOs, China’s NGOs still face many difficulties in participation, such as a shortage of funds and personnel, insufficient internal coordination and cooperation, limited participation channels, and a low level of internationalization. Therefore, the Chinese government and China’s NGOs should work together to take various measures to eliminate these difficulties to promote greater development of NGOs and better realize their contributions to marine plastic waste governance.