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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development

The Rights of the Pacific Ocean as a Legal Entity : A science based feasibility study

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Scientific community
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#OceanAction41675
Description
Description
"At the beginning was the Ocean..."
The Pacific Ocean is more than water or food cellar for most Pacific Islanders. It is part of their lives, of their family, of their blood. Land, Sea and Men are a whole. The Ocean has its mana (spiritual authority) and mauri (life force).
To recognize the Pacific Ocean as a legal person is in keeping with Pacific Islands cultures.
Recognizing rights to Nature as person is not only a legal possibility nowadays but probably the best next step in environmental protection policies. Whanganui, Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, Nature in Ecuador and Bolivia have opened the way to think big in terms of Rights of the Nature.
Our commitment is to undertake multi-disciplinary scientific studies to enhance knowledge on the Ocean, to identify possible rights to be recognized to the Ocean on its own, in compliance with existing international law, to improve existing national laws and propose new ones to treat and protect the Ocean as a person, enhance its resilience in the wake of Climate Change, over-exploitation of marine biodiversity and past and future man-made pollutions and give it a legal voice in its own right.
The final objective is to draft with participatory methods by 2020 a convention on the Rights of the Pacific Ocean open for signature for all countries. the Secretariat of this Convention would be the parens patriae for the Pacific Ocean, its guardian and its voice in the legal and political arena.
We intend to work in a peaceful and constructive approach with national governments, intergovernmental organizations, citizens, private sector stakeholders etc. without any discrimination.
If successful this commitment could be replicated for other Oceans and Elements of Nature.
Partners
IRD (Scientific Community)
SPREP (Intergovernmental organization)
Conservation International Pacific Islands programme (NGO)
Centre International de Droit Compar de l'Environnement (NGO)
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Action Network
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Timeline
09 January 2017 (start date)
06 August 2020 (date of completion)
Entity
Insitut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
SDGs
Geographical coverage
Marseille FRANCE
Other beneficiaries
Ocean biodiversity, Pacific Islanders
Ocean Basins
North Pacific, South Pacific
Communities of Ocean Action
Marine pollution, Ocean acidification, Marine and coastal ecosystems management, Sustainable fisheries, Sustainable blue economy, Scientific knowledge, research capacity development and transfer of marine technology, Implementation of international law as reflected in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Website/More information
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Countries
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Contact Information

Victor DAVID, Charg d'Etudes