ONE OCEAN HUB

Issue 4/2024

View our newsletter online

ONE OCEAN HUB

Newsletter

Hub Director appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights

Hub Director Elisa Morgera has been appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change by the Human Rights Council on 5 April 2024. The selection process involved over 50 candidates. Her new role will entail contributing to the development of international human rights standards to address and prevent the adverse effects of climate change on human rights in national policymaking, legislation and planning, as well as in international cooperation and in the business sector. The Special Rapporteur’s work aims to contribute to the achievement of SDG13 and SDG14, supporting the resilience and adaptive capacities of people in vulnerable situations to respond to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Elisa’s leadership of the current iteration of the One Ocean Hub will culminate on the occasion of the Hub’s Closing Conference that brings together Hub researchers and partners in Cape Town, South Africa (20-24 May 2024). From June onwards, Elisa will focus on writing up Hub research and methodologies on the ocean and human rights, as well as supporting, through mentoring and peer-learning, a new generation of research leaders emerging from the Hub.

Hub Deputy Director Philile Mbatha will lead on the follow-up to the closing conference and the implementation of the Hub Legacy Strategy.

Read More >>

Elisa Morgera | Philile Mbatha
Hub Director | Hub Deputy Director

Turning the tide at the UN Ocean Science Decade

We launched our UN Decade Implementing Partner program ‘Transdisciplinary Toolbox for Transformative Ocean Governance' at the UN Ocean Decade Conference in April 2024

The launch of the Hub’s Transdisciplinary Toolbox for Transformative Ocean Governance was warmly received at the UN Ocean Decade Conference on 9 April 2024. The innovative and unique transformative practices of the Hub sparked generative conversations during and after the event, reinforcing our commitment to exchange with and support other ocean researchers in their longing for transdisciplinary and transformative work.

By Milica Prokic

Highlights and challenges noted by Hub researchers at the Ocean Decade Conference – the biggest ocean gathering of 2024

The key messages from the UN Ocean Decade Conference send hopeful signals that ocean research is moving towards more inclusive thinking in terms of inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to support ocean governance. At the same time, significant space for improvement remains in ensuring meaningful change in fair and meaningful partnerships with Indingeous and local knowledge holders, as well as fair representation of researchers from the Global South, including Africa and Small Island Developing States.

By Milica Prokic

Reframing ocean literacy under the UN Ocean Science Decade

Dylan McGarry contributed to the Ocean Literacy Dialogue and the UN Ocean Decade Conference, with a particular emphasis on the need to shift attention from ‘ocean literacy’ to ‘ocean fluency’. In his words: “There are many ocean fluent people, from small-scale fishers, Indigenous Peoples, surfers, swimmers and children. We don’t need to make them literate, but support their ways of knowing and being with and in the ocean”.

He was then invited to contribute to the re-framing of Challenge 10 of the UN Decade for Ocean Science on ‘Changing humanity’s relationship with the ocean’. In this blog post, Dylan reflects on the contributions he made to the Conference, the experience of contributing to the white paper on Challenge 10, and his ongoing work in this area.

By Dylan McGarry

Hub highlights at the Ocean Literacy Dialogues

One of the most exciting new collaborations that the Hub explored at the UN Ocean Decade Conference was with the Ocean Literacy Dialogues, where Hub researchers co-delivered talks, hosted interactive art sessions and participated in group activities.

See clips from the conference on our YouTube channel.

By Milica Prokic

MAKING WAVES

Making space for small-scale fishers: developing a community-based fisher mapping methodology in St Helena Bay, South Africa

A research team from the University of Cape Town has commenced a collaborative, community-based research project with three small-scale fishers (SSF) communities from St Helena Bay on the West Coast of South Africa. The project aimed to develop a methodology that would support fishers in documenting their knowledge and co-creating the information base needed to engage with SSF governance and the recently launched national Marine Spatial Planning process, as well as laying a foundation for developing a local fisheries management plan in future, once SSFs’ customary rights are recognised.

By Jackie Sunde, Michael Lambrecht and Merle Sowman

Contributing to the historic hearings on the climate emergency of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Barbados

The Barbados Hearings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights provided a historic opportunity for governments, researchers, civil society, youth and other human rights holders to express their concerns about the human rights issues related to climate change, including at the ocean-climate nexus. The hearings provided a clear indication of the commitment and depth of engagement of the Inter-American judges with the variety of legal arguments on the obligations of States, and responsibility of businesses, to respect human rights in the context of the climate crisis. The Hearings also provided an opportunity for the Hub to connect with other researchers and organisations in Latin America and the Caribbean, who are working on human rights and the ocean, and for the University of West Indies to develop new partnerships in Latin America.

By Alana Malinde S.N. Lancaster

Discussing deep-seabed mining at the Human Rights Council

The human rights concerns about deep-seabed mining have been highlighted on the sidelines the Human Rights Council. On 28 March 2024, the Hub contributed to an event on human rights and precaution in deep-seabed mining, at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, with two Hub researchers providing insights from international law and deep-sea science. The event was organised together with the Permanent Missions of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Germany, Morocco, Panama, Samoa and Switzerland, Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy foundation, The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

By Holly Niner

Clarifying the transformative potential of the human right to a healthy ocean

Hub Director Elisa Morgera has collaborated with Nathan Bennet (WWF), with whom she also works on the Ocean Defenders project, and the outgoing UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment David Boyd on the article ‘The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable ocean.’ Published on npj Ocean Sustainability the article seeks to engage ocean scientists, managers and decision-makers to explore the transformative potential of the human right to a healthy environment to enhance ocean governance.

By Elisa Morgera

A new definition for ‘destructive fishing’ to kickstart a fresh era in fishing policy

This blog post speaks about the importance of a new definition for ‘destructive fishing’ developed through an iterative process from 2021 to 2023 by experts in this field, including Hub researchers from different disciplines.

By Hannah Richardson, Senia Febrica, Alana Malinde S.N. Lancaster, Bolanle Erinosho

Reflecting on marine plastic pollution and Indigenous Peoples’ human right to health

As the international negotiations continue on a new instrument on the full life-cycle of plastics pollution, it remains unclear to what extent human rights and marine plastics will be addressed by the new instrument. To further raise awareness about the transformative potential of taking these considerations more centrally into the negotiations, the Hub was invited to share reflections on the human right to health and Indigenous Peoples’ human rights by the World Health Organisation.

By Elisa Morgera

ARTS FOR INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE

‘Mapping for Justice’ wins Strathclyde’s Images of Research competition

Our image titled ‘Mapping for Justice’ has been awarded at this year’s Images of Research competition at the University of Strathclyde. The image co-won the ‘Societal Spark’ category that centres on ‘showcasing how research and innovation can bring about positive, real-world impact and tackle societal challenges’. The awarded image was taken in the Kosi Bay area of South Africa and the award was addressed to Hub Deputy Director Philile Mbatha who, with fellow researchers, has been supporting the mapping of culturally relevant areas and customs as evidence of the peoples’ customary and human rights and ecological knowledge of the area. “By mapping fish traps, we can prove that the community’s customary system includes fishing rights”, Wilmien Wicomb from Legal Resources Center (South Africa) says.

The photograph was taken by film-maker Nessim Stevenson during the filming of the Hub’s short film ‘Mapping for Justice’.

Images of Research now welcomes everyone to vote for their favourite entry to select the ‘People’s Choice’ award.

By Laura Merilainen

Supporting the sharing of Indigenous knowledge of the ocean across various islands in Vanuatu

Hub partner, the Vanuatu-based organisation Erromango Culture Association, has held exhibitions in the islands of Tanna, Santo and Erromango, to showcase invaluable Indigenous knowledge about the ocean that was documented during the DEEP Fund project Netai en Namou Toc | Stories of Mother Ocean.

New art exhibitions on One Ocean Learn focus on stories on marine turtles from Catalonia and Ghana

Two new art exhibitions have been added to the knowledge-translation platform One Ocean Learn. Both exhibitions explore stories of marine turtles that reveal ocean governance challenges related to the impacts of climate change and the protection of ecosystems and Indigenous knowledge. The exhibition entitled ‘WiseSands’ derives from an art project by public engagement professional and artist Mireia Bes Garcia, in which she engages with the sea turtles as recent arrivals to the shores of her native Catalonia region in Spain. The second exhibition encourages efforts to conserve turtle populations. Drama Queens, an art collective based in Ghana, produced the graphic novel ‘Aku and the Journey of the Turtle Spirit’ telling the story of a young Ghanian girl who is on a mission to save sea turtles.

EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHERS

New podcast: The Island Stories: Colonial pasts and policies of the present

In the sixth episode of the One Ocean Hub podcast, Hub researcher Alana Malinde Lancaster (University of West Indies, Barbados) and Hub early-career researcher Lysa Wini (University of Strathclyde, UK) discuss how the colonial pasts shape present issues in ocean governance in an island context. From the viewpoint of Solomon Islands where Lysa comes from and where her research focus is; and the Caribbean, where Alana lives and centres her work around, the speakers reflect on policies that govern Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the impact of the colonial past on present-day people and policies. Alana and Lysa dwell on the challenges that the lack of access to ocean-related decision-making fora pose for SIDS and discuss the Indigenous ways of knowing and (post)colonial knowledge extraction. The episode is hosted by the Hub’s Knowledge Exchange Associate Milica Prokic.

Spotlight on early-career researcher Nina Rivers

Q: WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT SINCE YOU STARTED WORKING FOR THE ONE OCEAN HUB?

A: Working with fellow early-career researcher Mia Strand and former Hub Deputy Director, Bernadette Snow on the Oceans Connection Exhibition in Geberha, South Africa in 2022 which was part of the broader Algoa Bay Project. We worked as a team to bring together multiple collaborators and knowledge holders including Indigenous and local ocean and coastal representatives, local coastal authorities, NGOs as well as key decision makers with regards to marine spatial planning (MSP) and ocean governance.

I am also quite proud of the Knowledge Integration writing workshop that we hosted earlier this year in Gqeberha, South Africa. The workshop brought together Hub researchers from Ghana, Namibia, the Caribbean, South Africa and the UK to integrate work across the Hub through high impact papers and exploring future legacy work.

Mangroves in Ghana – why we need to protect them

This blog post unpacks the findings from two latest reports on the impacts of mangrove deforestation in Ghana. Mangroves are a kind of marine vegetation that exists in coastal areas. These incredible plants are well adapted to the ocean environment and provide many different functions such as acting as nursery habitats for young (juvenile) fish species that, when they are older, swim out into the open ocean and form part of larger fisheries that fishers rely on for their livelihoods. Mangroves also trap sediment which in turn traps carbon (carbon sequestration) as well as reduce coastal erosion and protect coastal communities from violent storms.

By Rachael Hall and Nina Rivers

UPCOMING EVENTS

Poster exhibition: Bonn Climate Conference (SB-60) Action for climate empowerment Gallery (4 June 2024)
Bonn Climate Conference (SB-60) Side event: Ocean-Climate-Society & Conventions: adaptation, mitigation & governance opportunities & challenges (11 June 2024)
WWF “science for nature” concluding webinar (30 May 2024)
World Biodiversity Forum 2024 events (16-20 June 2024)

SEE EVENT DETAILS HERE >>

PUBLICATIONS

The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable ocean Publication authored by Nathan Bennet, Elisa Morgera and David Boyd (2024), in npj Ocean Sustainability volume 3, Article number: 19

Read publication here >>

Co-developing a transformative interpretation of international law on the protection of the marine environment and human rights: a reflection on the experience of the One Ocean Hub Publication authored by Elisa Morgera (12 May 2024) in P Merkouris et al (eds), The Practice of Interpretation in International Law: Unity, Diversity, and Evo, Available at SSRN

Read publication here >>

RESOURCES

Report 1: ‘Impact of mangrove selective deforestation on estuarine benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in Ghana.’ – Read Here >>

Report 2: ‘Impact of mangrove selective logging upon estuarine trophodynamics in Ghana.’ – Read Here >>

'From the coast to the ocean depths: co-developing innovative solutions for sustainable development' - Watch event recording on YouTube

University of Strathclyde’s Engage Week event on 7 May 2024 brought together researchers from law, social sciences, and engineering to share knowledge acquired through research and engagement activities in the context of environmental sustainability, other sustainable development goals (gender, education, health), and ocean-climate nexus. Speakers from the Hub and from the University of Strathclyde, shared their innovative and collaborative inter- and transdisciplinary research experiences and best practices from collaborations with non-academic partners in the Global South as well as within the UK.

Watch video recording >>

MAKING HEADLINES

Hub partner Keiskamma Art Project (South Africa) notes highlights from the past years in a blog post

“With sponsorship from One Ocean Hub’s Deep Fund, an international team supporting ocean research, we have been able to work with the narratives and memories of local artists and community members in the creation of a tapestry about the ocean as a sacred resource. It details the strengths of the spiritual connection between people and the ocean as a means of conservating both memories and the ocean itself – a holy place – a place of the ancestors…”

Enjoyed this issue?
Share it here!

Subscribe
Unsubscribe

One Ocean Hub is an independent programme for collaborative research for development, funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). GCRF is a key component in delivering the UK AID strategy and puts UK-led research and the heart of efforts to tackle the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.