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 the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and two other

proposed international laws currently under development through United Nations

processes – to regulate the activities of corporations and business enterprises, and to

govern the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological biodiversity in areas

beyond natio nal jurisdiction – hold eno rmous signif‌icance for Pac if‌ic states and people

in today’s globalised world. All three developments have seen strong involvement by

civil society organisations, two of them emanating from civil society advocacy. ese

developments provide important avenues to potentially redress historical wrongs

and protect against human rights abuses and marine resource pillaging. ey 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.

Taking my cue from the theme of this Conference, “Voices of the Pacif‌ic in a

Globalised World”, I want to share with you my thoughts on the signif‌icance of

three new and emerging international laws for Pacif‌ic states and people, namely,

the historic Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which was adopted

by the UN General Assembly on 7 July 2017; the UN Human Rights Council’s

proposed international legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of

transnational corporations and other business enterprises, on which an open-

ended intergovernmental Working Group began work in July 2015; and a proposed

UN binding treaty for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological

Biodiversit y in Areas B eyond National Jur isdiction (BBN J), on which a UN Conference

under UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) will hold four

sessions beginning in September 2018, concluding with a treaty in 2020. The

three cases represent dierent stages in international norm setting. Two of them

have resulted from sustained civil society advocacy; all of them have enormous

signif‌icance for protecting the interests of Pacif‌ic Island states and peoples in 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,

including nine Pacif‌ic states, the historic Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear

Weapons. This monumental achievement of an international treaty that outlaws

nuclear weapons was mostly due to sustained advocacy by the International

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 activists from her student days in the anti-nuclear movement 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 strongly opposed it, clinging to the Cold War justif‌ication of nuclear

1 Vanessa Grien “Pacif‌ic’s role and history of nuclear suering boosted treaty success” (24

October 201 7) Pacif‌ic Islan ds News Associ ation .