Pacific Network on Globalisation

As debates over deep-sea mining intensify, questions of ocean governance, justice, and stewardship have never been more urgent.

At this week's , legal practitioners and ocean governance experts came together for the public lecture: Ocean Governance at a Crossroads at the The University of the South Pacific;'s Marine Campus in Suva.

Moderated by International Human Rights Lawyer Kavita Naidu, the panel brought together Ralph Regenvanu, Minister for Climate Change Adaptation, Energy, Environment, Meteorology, Geohazards and Disaster Management of Vanuatu; Alofipo Fleur Ramsay, Saltwater Lawyer; Naima Ta'afaki Fifita, representative of Ocean Vision Legal; and Pradeep Singh, legal scholar.

Together, they unpacked the legal, cultural, and environmental complexities of deep-sea mining and explored the implications for the future governance of our .

This public lecture was a timely conversation about who decides the future of our ocean and our shared responsibility to protect it for generations to come.

Pacific Conference of Churches WWF Pacific DAWN Feminist Pacific Islands Climate Action Network - PICAN Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations Alliance - PRNGO GPPAC Pacific: Pacific People Building Peace Lisa Leilani Williams

“We are people of the ocean, not the people above it, not the people profiting from it. The people of it. Salt in our blood, stories in our currents, ancestors in our tides, futures in our waters. We the people of the ocean, know what is at stake. We know because we live it. We know because we fish it.”

At the opening of the third day of , Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka reminds us that Pacific people are the ocean, and the ocean is us.

The day focused on strengthening coordination and collective advocacy. Indigenous leaders, civil society representatives, politicians, and academics reflected on emerging strategic directions and identify priority areas for collective action. 🌊

Finafinau Pacific Conference of Churches WWF Pacific DAWN Feminist Pacific Islands Climate Action Network - PICAN Pasifika Communities University Lisa Leilani Williams PIANGO Pacific 2030

“Teresia Teiwa wrote that the ocean is our last source of poetry, and our mana. It is an ancestor, and it is a grandmother. It is relational. It holds living memories of the past, of pain and of trauma. It gives us identity.”

Executive Board Member of Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) feminist, Maureen Penjueli, shared a poetic message that resonated deeply with Pacific ways of knowing and connection to the ocean on the second day of the State of the Pacific Ocean Convening ( ).

Her remarks set the tone for the Security and Militarisation session, which examined the growing influence of security interests and militarisation on ocean governance across the Pacific, and the implications for Pacific peoples, sovereignty, and ocean stewardship.

This was followed by critical discussions on the state of the ocean, Blue Resourcing, examining how economic systems, financing mechanisms, and increasing resource demands are reshaping ocean spaces, influencing governance priorities, and determining the future of ocean stewardship in the region.

Pasifika Communities University Pacific Conference of Churches DAWN Feminist Pacific Islands Climate Action Network - PICAN WWF Pacific