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

• Author: Claire Slatter
• Position: Retired University of the South Pacific academic with research interests in development politics, economic and trade justice, and women and development
• Pages: 5-20

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 .