Alejandra Torres Camprubí, Statehood under Water: Challenges of Sea Level Rise to the Continuity of Pacific Island States

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-616
Author(s):  
Emma Allen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Island States ◽  
Pacific Island States

scholarly journals Securing the Limits of Large Ocean States in the Pacific: Defining Baselines Limits and Boundaries amidst Changing Coastlines and Sea Level Rise

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 394
Author(s):  
Leonardo Bernard ◽  
Michael Petterson ◽  
Clive Schofield ◽  
Stuart Kaye
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Potential Response ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Island States ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Pacific Island States ◽  
And Sea Level

The Pacific Island States and Territories are traditionally described as ‘small island’ nations. However, they are also ‘large ocean’ nations with jurisdiction over substantial maritime spaces stretching to at least 200 nautical miles. The article addresses issues related to baselines along the coast on which these broad maritime claims depend. The article then examines geodynamic considerations coupled with sea and land level projections in the Pacific leading to an assessment of the vulnerability or resilience of atolls in particular. The article then discusses potential implications for the coastlines and baselines of the Pacific Island States and Territories, the limits of their maritime entitlements and both delimited and undelimited maritime boundaries. Potential response options, prospects, and concluding thoughts are then offered.

Energy Situation and Energy-Related Environment Issues of Pacific Island Countries

1991 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-347
Author(s):  
Suliana Siwatibau
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Petroleum Products ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Energy Environment ◽  
Over Exploitation ◽  
Pacific Island Nations ◽  
Very High

Pacific Islands have experienced low economic growth during the 1980s, and face significant energy problems. Petroleum products are imported at very high prices and biofuel use often leads to resource over-exploitation. However, perhaps the most basic energy-environment concern is the potential for sea level rise. Some Pacific Island nations would vanish altogether, while others would lose their most productive areas.

scholarly journals Multilateral Resource Negotiations Between Weak and Powerful States: The Case of the 1987 United States-Pacific Island Fisheries Treaty

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sōsefo Fietangata Havea
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
Island States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Pacific Island States

<p>On April 2, 1987, the Treaty on Fisheries Between Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America was signed. The signatories to the Fisheries were the 16 members of the South Pacific Forum and the United States of America. After six difficult years of negotiations, the Treaty permitted American fishing vessels to fish in Pacific Islands’ waters in exchange for a substantial access fee. This thesis identifies key aspects of that treaty and examines what it meant from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. How did a collection of small, comparatively weak Pacific states strike a satisfactory deal with the most powerful state on the planet? What did the agreement mean in terms of its political, legal and environmental consequences? As well as looking at the events and negotiations that led to the treaty, this thesis also attempts to discern the key political lessons that flow from this case that might be relevant for the future development of the Pacific island States in the key area of fisheries regulation. The thesis argues that disputes between Pacific nations and the United States over tuna resources and the presence of the Soviet Union in the Pacific region were the two critical factors that led to the adoption of the Treaty. From the United States’ perspective, the Treaty was seen (at the time) as the only viable option if it were to reconsolidate its long and prosperous position in the Pacific region. The US did not want the Soviet Union to capitalize on American fishing disputes with the Pacific islands, and it could not afford for the Soviet Union to establish a strong association with the Pacific islands. The Treaty therefore served three purposes for Washington: (i) it maintained its long friendship with the Pacific islands, (ii) it maintained its fisheries interests in the region, (iii) and it kept the Pacific communist-free. This fusion of US economic and strategic interests gave Pacific Island States a stronger hand in the negotiations than their size and power would have otherwise offered.</p>

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