Securing the Pacific in a Globalised World: New and Emerging Developments in International Law

AuthorClaire Slatter
PositionRetired University of the South Pacific academic with research interests in development politics, economic and trade justice, and women and development
Pages5-20
5
SECURING THE PACIFIC IN A
GLOBALISED WORLD: NEW AND
EMERGING DEVELOPMENTS IN
INTERNATIONAL LAW
*
Abstract
e United Nations Treaty on th e Prohibiti on of Nuclear Weapons an d two other
proposed international laws currently under development through United Nations
processes – to regu late the activ ities of corpor ations and bu siness enter prises, an d to
govern the con servatio n and sustaina ble use of marin e biological b iodiversit y in areas
beyond natio nal jurisdiction – hold eno rmous signif‌icance for Pac if‌ic states and people
in today’s globali sed world. All th ree developme nts have seen st rong involvem ent by
civil societ y organisat ions, two of the m emanating f rom civil soci ety advocac y. ese
developments provide important avenues to potentially redress historical wrongs
and protect again st human righ ts abuses and m arine resourc e pillaging. e y are not
sucient , however, to protect the Pacif‌i c Ocean, which consti tutes more than 90 per cent
of the world inhab ited by Pacif‌ic people. at may re quire legislating personho od rights
for our Ocean.
I. Introduction
Kia ora, Talofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Kia orana, Fakatalofa atu, Malo
ni, Mauri, Bula vinaka, Halo olgeta. Let me begi n by thanking t he organisers of the
Pacif‌ic Law a nd Culture Conference 2 018 and especially E lizabeth MacPhers on and
Natalie B aird, for the kin d invitation to g ive a keynote address. It i s a little daunt ing
to be here, to be hone st, as I am not a law yer and wil l be at a loss if you begin splittin g
* This paper i s a revised version , for publication, of a k eynote address d elivered to the “ Voices of
the Pacif‌ic i n a Globali sed World” Pacif‌ic L aw and Cul ture Confe rence, Univer sity of Can terbury,
Chris tchurch on 4 Ju ly 2018. Dr C laire Sl atter is a r etired Un iversit y of the South P acif‌ic acade mic
with res earch interests i n development politics, e conomic and trade jus tice, and women and
development. She h as a background in t rade union, femin ist and development NGO ac tivism,
is a foundin g member and Boa rd Chair of Deve lopment Altern atives with Women for a Ne w Era
(DAWN), and a foun ding and act ive member of the Pac if‌ic Network on Globa lisation (PA NG).
6 [Vol 27, 2020]
legal ha irs on anyth ing I say. By way of a discla imer, let me clarif y that I am going to
be speak ing to you mostly a s a Pacif‌ic femini st scholar/activi st with a backg round in
regiona l and global acti vism, recently r etired from academ ia, and now free to w rite
and engage mor e on issues of concern to the re gion.
Takin g my cue from the t heme of this Con ference, “Voices of the P acif‌ic in a
Globalis ed World”, I want to share w ith you my thou ghts on the s ignif‌ic ance of
three new a nd emerging i nternat ional law s for Pacif‌ic stat es and people, n amely,
the hist oric Treat y on the Proh ibition of Nuclea r Weapons which wa s adopted
by the UN Genera l Assembly on 7 Ju ly 2017; the U N Human R ights Cou ncil’s
proposed int ernationa l legal ly bindi ng inst rument to re gulate t he activi ties of
trans nationa l corporation s and other bus iness enter prises, on wh ich an open-
ended intergover nmenta l Working Group be gan work in Ju ly 2015; and a propos ed
UN bindi ng treat y for the Conserv ation and Sus tain able Use of Mar ine Biologica l
Biodiversit y in Areas B eyond National Jur isdiction (BBN J), on which a UN Conference
under UNCLOS ( United Nation s Convention on the L aw of the Sea) wi ll hold four
sessions beg inni ng in Septem ber 2018, concludi ng with a t reaty i n 2020. The
three ca ses represent di erent sta ges in inter nationa l norm sett ing. T wo of them
have result ed from sus tained c ivil soc iety advocac y; all of t hem have enormous
signi f‌icance for protec ting t he interest s of Pacif‌ic Isl and stat es and peoples i n a
global ised world and should be of int erest to both Paci f‌ic law scholars a nd emerging
lawyers .
II. The Treaty on the Prohibition
of Nuclear Weapons
On 7 July 2017, the U N General Assembly adopt ed, through the vot e of 122 states,
includin g nine Paci f‌ic states , the hist oric Treat y on the Proh ibition of Nuclea r
Weapons. This monu mental ach ievement of an int ernation al treat y that out laws
nuclear weapon s was mostl y due to sust ained advo cacy by the Int ernation al
Campaig n to Abolish Nuclear Weap ons (ICAN), a network of 465 or ganisations wi th
campai gners in 100 count ries.1 I am very proud of t he fact that a close fr iend and one
of Fiji’s early act ivist s from her st udent days in the a nti-nuclear moveme nt in the
Pacif‌ic, Dr Vane ssa Grien, has been pa rt of ICAN.
In December 2017, IC AN was deservedly awa rded the 2017 Nobel Peace prize for
this mi lestone achievement . None of the seven nuclear st ates have signed t he Treaty,
and most st rongly oppose d it, clin ging to t he Cold War just if‌ication of nuc lear
1 Vanessa Gri en “Pacif‌i c’s role and his tory of nucl ear suer ing boos ted trea ty succes s” (24
October 201 7) Pacif‌ic Islan ds News Associ ation .

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