Atoll Ways of Being with the Ocean

A perspective from low laying atolls brings climate discourses and practical realities together. Tokelau experiences with political intervensions employed by overseas agents range historically from instruments of demographic control to more recent measures related to transport and access to revenue from the EEZ. Tensions between different ways of being with the ocean are increasingly apparent. Read More …

Ocean Talanoa

In July 2022 the OceanStates project had the privilege of bringing 28 students from the University of the South Pacific on board the tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl of Bergen, for a three-week voyage in Fiji waters. In this blogpost, you can read about how students from across the world engaged in exercises of knowledge sharing through the oceanic practice of ‘talanoa’ on this voyage together. Read More …

Big Ocean States: Reclaiming Sovereignty through Maritime Borders

In this blogpost, Milla Vaha provides an analysis of state sovereignty and maritime borders with a focus on the large ocean states of the Pacific, that are “powerfully exercising their right to self-determination” through a reinterpretation of international law and statehood in the age of climate change and sea-level rise. Read More …