Island States Research Articles

The intersection of marine and coastal conservation and nature-based solutions to climate change: Governance insights from Indian Ocean small island States

Despite an array of global interventions, climate change and biodiversity loss remain pressing environmental problems. Nations in the global south, and in particular small island developing states (SIDS), are frequently more vulnerable to climate change than other nations. Furthermore, these nations rely heavily on biodiversity for sustenance, livelihoods and economies. Yet, capacity and resources to address the challenges are often limited. Finding effective and efficient ways to respond to both climate change and biodiversity loss is, therefore, critical. This research explores natured-based solutions (NbS) to climate change and how these can simultaneously support marine and coastal biodiversity conservation. The paper focuses on international law and specifically the commitments made by Indian Ocean SIDS in their Nationally Determined Contribution documents (NDCs) submitted under the Paris Agreement. The commitments in these NDCs provide a foundation for climate change action, and now must be implemented if goals are to be achieved.

André Wink. The Making of the Indo-Islamic World, c. 700–1800 CE.

Among the polities and cultures of Islam, the realms east of Baghdad have received increasing attention since the publication of Marshall Hodgson’s monumental Venture of Islam (1975), which offered an unprecedented panorama of the histories of the three “great empires” of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. Since then, historians have continuously reshaped the geographic frame of analysis beyond the boundaries of the contemporary national states in which the histories of these empires had heretofore been written, whether the “Balkans to Bengal” complex proposed by Shahab Ahmed or the “Persianate Cosmopolis” described by Richard Eaton. An inventive and exciting attempt in this vein is promised in the work under consideration, itself a distillation of the author’s monumental Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World (1990–), a five-volume history (three so far completed) of what the author has described as the Indo-Islamic world. The frame is not limited (as is conventional) to the Indian subcontinent but aims to integrate the diverse landscapes around the Bay of Bengal and maritime Southeast Asia. Wink argues that the region was recognized as integrally comprised of Indias of various numbers and designations by Hellenic, Arabic, and European geographers, and marked, before the advent of Islam c. 700 CE, by Hindu and Buddhist polities. It was defined by two great frontiers: one, an arid zone dominated by nomads from central to south-central Asia (present-day Afghanistan), and the other, more amorphous maritime frontier of the Indian Ocean. Dominated by these zones of fluidity and mobility lay the settled agrarian inland and island states of the region. The nomadic conquest of the subcontinent in the early second millennium and the seaborne expansion of itinerant traders led to the birth of postnomadic Islamic subcontinental polities and commercially oriented maritime Muslim kingdoms; both these great frontiers closed with the consolidation of colonial power in the region by the beginning of the nineteenth century.

‘HOW MUCH SPACE AM I SUPPOSED TO TAKE?’: UNDERSTANDING 'DIGITAL INCLUSION FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT' THROUGH FA'ASAMOA

It is widely held that efforts to achieve the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals must sit alongside efforts to achieve ‘universal’ digital inclusion (Graham, 2019). In Samoa, an independent island state in the Pacific, digital inclusion has been positioned as a key ‘international development’ agenda that will ‘leapfrog’ the nation into the 21st century. However, a similarly strong motivator has been fa’asamoa (the Samoan way) which, with its emphasis on relationally grounded action and knowledges, operates in tension with the underlying colonial constructs of ‘modernity’ evident within current 'Western' conceptualisations of ‘digital inclusion for international development’. In following Mignolo (2007), this paper details fa’asamoa-grounded perceptions and experiences of ‘digital inclusion for international development’ held by Samoan members of two Pasifika-led community organisations in Brisbane, Australia. The 'participants', as peer researchers, held a central position in designing and implementing the research agenda and objectives, further putting abstract conceptualisations of decolonisation into practice. Drawing on discussions and design artefacts created during a co-design workshop held in late-2021, this paper outlines how the peer researchers (consciously and unconsciously) navigate tensions between fa’asamoa and current 'Western' structures and practices of ‘digital inclusion for international development’ in their everyday and envisioned engagement with ICTs and digital technologies. In turn, this paper critically questions the effects of on-going 'Western' hegemonies in the construction of ‘modern’ subjectivities and the enactment of ‘modern’ life, and further offers critical insight into the role of technology in the discursive and practical conception of alternatives to ‘modernity/coloniality'.

Trends in Bacterial Pathogens of Bats: Global Distribution and Knowledge Gaps

Bats have received considerable recent attention for infectious disease research because of their potential to host and transmit viruses, including Ebola, Hendra, Nipah, and multiple coronaviruses. These pathogens are occasionally transmitted from bats to wildlife, livestock, and to humans, directly or through other bridging (intermediate) hosts. Due to their public health relevance, zoonotic viruses are a primary focus of research attention. In contrast, other emerging pathogens of bats, such as bacteria, are vastly understudied despite their ubiquity and diversity. Here, we describe the currently known host ranges and geographic distributional patterns of potentially zoonotic bacterial genera in bats, using published presence-absence data of pathogen occurrence. We identify apparent gaps in our understanding of the distribution of these pathogens on a global scale. The most frequently detected bacterial genera in bats are Bartonella, Leptospira, and Mycoplasma. However, a wide variety of other potentially zoonotic bacterial genera are also occasionally found in bats, such as Anaplasma, Brucella, Borrelia, Coxiella, Ehrlichia, Francisella, Neorickettsia, and Rickettsia. The bat families Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae, and Pteropodidae are most frequently reported as hosts of bacterial pathogens; however, the presence of at least one bacterial genus was confirmed in all 15 bat families tested. On a spatial scale, molecular diagnostics of samples from 58 countries and four overseas departments and island states (French Guiana, Mayotte, New Caledonia, and Réunion Island) reported testing for at least one bacterial pathogen in bats. We also identified geographical areas that have been mostly neglected during bacterial pathogen research in bats, such as the Afrotropical region and Southern Asia. Current knowledge on the distribution of potentially zoonotic bacterial genera in bats is strongly biased by research effort towards certain taxonomic groups and geographic regions. Identifying these biases can guide future surveillance efforts, contributing to a better understanding of the ecoepidemiology of zoonotic pathogens in bats.

Need for the Scuba Diving Industry to Interface with Science and Policy: A Case of SIDS Blue Workforce

To achieve coral reef resilience under Agenda 2030, island governments need to institutionalise a competent blue workforce to expand their reef resilience initiatives across economic organisations and industries. The ability of island governments to shape new policies for sustainable island development relying on natural capital, such as coral reefs, has been hampered by structural and institutional deficiencies on both sides of the science-policy interface (SPI) at the UN. Using a qualitative research design, this article explores the science-policy interface (SPI) policy paper, Rebuilding Coral Reefs: A Decadal Grand Challenge and the role of this SPI in guiding UN coral reef financing for island states. This article uses the dive industry to investigate the needs of policymakers in island states via a conceptual framework for policy analysis. This article highlights the gaps of the SPI from the perspective of the global south and is beneficial for the islands selected under the Global Coral Reef Investment Plan. The article highlights the results of the SPI to island decision makers, which indicate that, without a policy framework that includes space for industrial policy within UN SPI, island governments will continue to fall into financial traps that constrain their efforts in operationalising their blue workforce. The study concludes that interlinked SDGs, such as SDG 9 and SDG 8, which focus on linking industrial innovation and infrastructure with decent work, as well as SDG 16 and 14.7, provide SIDS institutions with integrated policy approaches capable of bridging the divides between the scientific community, the diving industry, and island governments and that this needs to be further explored at all levels.

The influence of technology on self-determination: the case of self-regulated learning in an island university

ABSTRACT The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the education sector worldwide, including higher education institutions, to adopt relevant measures for the continuity of teaching and learning while ensuring health safety. Using Self-determination Theory as a lens, this paper presents one of the findings of a developmental study on students’ experiences on a flexible learning delivery model that is anchored on self-regulated learning, implemented in one of the island state universities in the Philippines during the academic year 2020–2021. Specifically, the paper reports one emergent finding: the enabling/supporting and limiting influence of technology on competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In this qualitative descriptive study, the researchers interviewed 45 pre-service teachers. Results revealed that technology has both enabling/supporting and limiting influence on competence, autonomy, and relatedness, implying that strategic and directed technology-related support and policies related thereto are imperative to succeed in self-regulated learning. The later section of the paper provides implications, reflections, and recommendations not only limited to the study context but also the future of self-regulated learning.

The lyrics of hunger: Cabo Verdean music as a space for organic remembering

In the Atlantic Ocean island state of Cabo Verde, silence about hunger is perennial. Elderly people who lived through devastating famines during Portuguese colonialism seldom talk about their memories, and contemporary experiences of food deprivation are buried in silence. Yet there is one space in which the silence is broken: music. Exploring that space, this article analyses representations of drought and hunger in Cabo Verdean music and explores the social contexts, positionalities and sentiments that the lyrics evoke. The article portrays the everyday listening to and singing of the lyrics as a kind of ‘organic remembering’ and demonstrates how it contributes to a view of hunger as a key symbol of the nation at the same time as the experience of hunger is surrounded by silence in everyday life. Furthermore, the article brings up the silencing of the Portuguese’ colonial responsibility for the sufferings. It also presents some reasons for this, including Cabo Verde’s hybrid position in the Portuguese empire as an uneasy mixture between a distant and neglected appendage to the metropole and a colony. Finally, it argues that not blaming the ex-colonisers has been an important way forward for the small and dependent postcolonial state.

Sickle Cell Disease Newborn Screening—An Audit of a Twin Island State Pilot Program

The prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) within the Caribbean region remains second only to that of West Africa. The Newborn Screening (NBS) Program in Antigua and Barbuda remains heavily dependent on grants, therefore ultimately facing sustainability challenges. Early intervention and implementation of preventative measures post-NBS result in significant improvements in morbidity, quality of life, and survival. This audit reviewed the pilot SCD NBS Program in Antigua and Barbuda from September 2020 to December 2021. A conclusive result was received by 99% of babies eligible for screening, 84.3% of which were HbFA, whilst 9.6% and 4.6% were HbFAS and HbFAC, respectively. This was comparable to other Caribbean countries. Sickle Cell Disease was noted in 0.5% of babies screened, which translates to 1 in 222 live births. Eighty-two percent of mothers were aware of their sickle cell status, compared to 3% of fathers. The importance of instituting a quality improvement team post the initiation of a screening program and the need for a robust public education program have been demonstrated by this audit.

Enhanced wellbeing of Pacific Island peoples during the pandemic? A qualitative analysis using the Advanced Frangipani Framework

COVID-19 isolated island states from international tourism, which is a primary provider of employment and driver of economic development for the Pacific region. Most governments lacked the finances to provide sustained assistance to tourism businesses and workers, thus one might assume that these people’s wellbeing was very low during the pandemic: in fact, this research found the opposite. Utilising the Frangipani Framework of Wellbeing, a survey was utilised to investigate 6 dimensions of wellbeing in tourism-dependent communities in Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and Cook Islands during periods of border closures. Results found that while people faced financial struggles, their mental, social, physical, spiritual and environmental wellbeing had improved in many cases. Respondents indicated that they felt more connected to one another and their spiritual beliefs, were able to utilise communal resources to support their livelihoods, and that the pandemic provided a well-needed break for both themselves and the environment. This research demonstrates that people can successfully adapt and show resilience in the face of significant shocks and financial challenges if they have access to a range of cultural knowledge and systems, strong social connections and natural resources.

Prospects for invoking the law of self‐determination in international climate litigation

AbstractThe question of the substantive law that international courts and tribunals can apply in adjudicating climate change cases has been widely debated. This article focuses on the potential of self‐determination, a cornerstone of international law, to shed light on the duties held by States in the face of climate change. The applicability of the law of self‐determination is broad, not limited to the classic decolonization setting. Focusing on the situation of low‐lying island States that face the prospect of large‐scale loss of their entire territory, or its effective use, the article constructs an argument by analogy regarding the content of the right to self‐determination. Low‐lying States have the right to free determination of political status in the face of inundation, although this is limited by the territorial integrity of other States. Correlative obligations may be attributed to all States erga omnes, to current administering powers and potentially to high‐emitting States.

Some issues of the application of public-law mediation with the participation of states in the settlement of the Cyprus conflict

The article is devoted to the analysis of public law mediation in the settlement of international conflicts. Using the example of the armed confrontation on the territory of the Republic of Cyprus that took place in 1974, the authors analyze the role of international intermediaries (mediators) in resolving the armed conflict and overcoming its consequences. The causes of the Cyprus armed conflict are studied, and the conditions under which public law mediation is expedient are analyzed. At the same time, the conditions for providing mediation services in the settlement of such conflicts are evaluated.
 In the conditions of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the study of the role of mediation in international law plays a positive role, taking into account the aspiration of some UN member states to play a positive peaceful conciliatory role in the cessation of military aggression by the aggressor state.
 Along with the abovementioned, the positive features of public-law mediation are noted and the consequences of using this institute of mediation procedure in armed conflicts are described. The criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of public legal mediation are expressed. It also describes the conditions under which the guarantor states assumed international obligations regarding the settlement of the Cyprus crisis.
 The conclusions indicate attempts to settle it, which, unfortunately, did not find the support of the population of this island state. Along with this, it is noted that the subjects of public-legal mediation act as mediators not only in the solution, but also in the possible introduction of peaceful measures that will mitigate the international conflict. As an example, Turkey's participation in unblocking the work of Ukrainian seaports for the purpose of exporting food products by sea transport during the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine in 2022 is given.

Impact of COVID 19 on Digital Marketing: A Systematic Study on Sub Saharan African

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has had massive impacts on digital marketing, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa, which had been the preferred method of marketing in recent years. The term "Sub-Saharan Africa" is used to describe the African countries south of the Sahara Desert. This includes the eco-region of the Sahel, which lies between the Sahara and the African tropical and forest savannah zones, and the island states off Africa's western and eastern borders. South Africa, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, and Angola are just a few of the 48 countries that make up Sub-Saharan Africa. This study seeks to determine the impact of COVID 19 on digital marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Utilizing systematic review and, especially, the quick review approach, this objective was accomplished. The study concluded that COVID 19 had both positive and negative impacts on digital marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sales, advertising, and promotion via digital channels have increased, which is a positive development. As a result of the lockdown and the corona virus epidemic, people are more likely to conduct business on the internet. Enhanced internet marketing has helped firms in Sub-Saharan Africa expand their clientele, revenue, and profits.
 Unfortunately, many digital marketing firms' reputations were damaged because some users abused their access to various online services by engaging in fraudulent activities during the epidemic. Ad, marketing, promotional, and media spending have all been adjusted as a result of the global COVID-19 epidemic. The study concluded and suggested that Sub-Saharan businesses and government institutions must be courteous, employ digital marketing, and respond to consumers during cultural events like the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep consumers, brands must fix the problem while being positive. Adjusting marketing campaign and content timings, advertising language and visuals, and being aware of customers' growing concern may do this. Under the global pandemic, Sub-Saharan African (SSA) firms must rely more on digital sales or e-commerce to flourish.

Can Small Island States Escape China’s Influence? The Cases of Sri Lanka and Fiji

ABSTRACT The rise of China has shifted the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. China has tried to influence small island states that were previously under the spheres of influence of Australia and India by offering lucrative offers under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Small states remain in a quandary about how to approach the evolving regional security paradigm. Using a realism-based perspective, this paper explores small state options through two case studies: Sri Lanka and Fiji and contributes to the scholarly literature by analysing and drawing conclusions about small state options and whether they can opt to return to their traditional relationships and partnerships. The paper draws some conclusions that contrast with some realist assumptions, including a defiance on the part of small island states, who under the right circumstances can upend the status quo in the pursuit of greater economic benefits.

Diversity in marine protected area regulations: Protection approaches for locally appropriate marine management

Globally, marine protected area (MPA) objectives have increasingly shifted from a primary focus on maintaining ecosystems through prohibiting extractive activities, to more equitable approaches that address the needs of both people and nature. This has led to MPAs with a diverse array of fisheries restrictions and recent debate on the type of restrictions that contribute to achieving biodiversity goals. Here we use a global dataset of 172 MPAs (representing 31 nations) alongside nine detailed case study MPAs (from Australia, Belize, Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Madagascar, Solomon Islands, and United States of America), including partially protected areas that allow regulated fishing, to illustrate the many diverse pathways that some MPAs have adopted to protect biodiversity and safeguard the rights and well-being of resource-dependent coastal communities. We group MPAs based on their restrictions and explore four key insights emerging from these groupings using our nine case studies: (i) MPAs use highly diverse approaches to regulate fisheries; (ii) partially protected areas can address gaps in regional fisheries management; (iii) devolving resource management rights to communities influences the chosen fisheries restrictions; and (iv) state-governed MPAs can use highly tailored fisheries restrictions to increase equity in access. We find that partially protected MPAs can offer effective and equitable pathways for biodiversity conservation if tailored to local context. Rather than focusing primarily on fully protected areas for achieving new global MPA targets, we recommend countries use a blend of locally-appropriate protection levels – from fully protected areas to partially protected MPAs to achieve positive biodiversity outcomes.

Geopolitical imaginaries in climate and ocean governance: Seychelles and the Blue Economy

Climate change and ocean management are significant challenges for small island developing states (SIDS). Compounding these challenges, research suggests that the ability of SIDS to enact environmental governance, and their ability to mobilise international support, remain constrained by resource limitations and broader geopolitical discourses of marginality. However, Seychelles’ Government has challenged these imaginaries via its engagement with the “Blue Economy” as a framing for ocean-climate governance. This paper argues Seychelles’ construction, and utilisation, of the Blue Economy is built upon particular geopolitical imaginaries underpinning ocean-climate governance in SIDS. Drawing on elite interviews conducted in Seychelles in 2017, this paper explores how the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) acts as a mechanism that incorporates ocean governance and climate adaptation. It argues the Blue Economy serves as a geopolitical imaginary that underpins Seychelles’ ocean-climate governance. Moreover, elites have drawn upon three separate geopolitical island imaginaries to justify Seychelle’s role within the Blue Economy, Seychelles as: a pristine island state, an island of experimentation, and a large oceanic state. This paper will argue that such geopolitical imaginaries underpin ocean-climate governance through the Blue Economy and highlight the significance of considering them in analysing the Blue Economy. Further, it highlights the important insight of elite perspective in uncovering the geopolitical logics underpinning ocean-climate governance in SIDS.

From Tasmania to the world: long and strong traditions in seaweed use, research, and development

Abstract Tasmania is an island state in south-eastern Australia that has a long and rich history of seaweed use, research, and development. It is a cool-temperate system with 750 macroalgal species currently described. Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples have lived on this land for at least 40,000 years utilising seaweed as food, shelter, water carriers and medicine, as well as for ceremonial reasons. Modern taxonomic investigations began with French naturalist Jacques-Julien Houtou de La Billardière in 1791, and there are 184 type specimens of seaweeds originating from Tasmania. Ecological and physiological studies of seaweed in Tasmania have focussed on the dominant large brown seaweeds (Laminariales and Fucales) and have contributed significantly to the global understanding of these systems, particularly related to community resilience, seaweed-urchin interactions, their habitat-forming role for other species, responses to global change, and restoration of lost habitat. Ocean warming and changing oceanography have caused a 95% decline in surface canopy cover of Macrocystis pyrifera in eastern Tasmania since the 1950s and led to a focus on restoring these lost forests. Tasmanian seaweed communities have a uniquely high proportion (up to ∼90%) of seaweeds that rely solely on CO2 for photosynthesis, which has implications for responses to ocean acidification. Tasmania has industries that use brown seaweeds for fucoidan extraction and beach-cast harvest for alginates, fertilisers, and feeds for agriculture. New aquaculture initiatives include integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, offshore kelp mariculture and Asparagopsis cultivation for bioactive products to reduce methane emissions in ruminants, as and the development of unexploited species including Caulerpa spp. for food.

The diabetes epidemic in Malta

Aim: The small European Mediterranean island state of Malta is a highly prevalent type 2 diabetes (T2DM) country. Over recent decades drastic environmental, cultural and ethnic changes occurred and it was considered timely to undergo a cross-sectional survey to establish up-to-date prevalence of T2DM, its socio-geographical distribution and ultimately estimating the economic burden of T2DM. Methods: A health examination survey was conducted (2014-16) including a representative sample of the adult population stratified by 18-70 years, gender and locality (n=3,947; males n=1,997 male). The survey consisted of a socio-demographic questionnaire, various health examination measurements and blood samples for fasting blood glucose (FBG). Prevalence for T2DM (depending on medical history, medication and FBG >7mmol/L) were calculated for the general population as well as for each of the districts making up the Maltese Islands. The economic burden of T2DM for 2017 and projected burden for 2045 were calculated using secondary sources and by incorporating 2% compound interest per annum respectively. Results: A total response rate of 47.15% was obtained, with a mean age of 48 years for males and 46 years for females. Out of the total adjusted population (n=3,947, male n=1,998), the prevalence of T2DM was of 10.31%, with 6.31% already known to have T2DM while 4% were newly diagnosed. Females were diagnosed with T2DM at an earlier age than the males. No significant geographical T2DM prevalence differences were established. The total annual diabetes health care expenditure was approximately €107,316,517.82 for 2017, while the projected expenditure for 2045 was estimated at €244,136,040. Conclusion: Malta is a country with a high prevalence of diabetes. The females were observed to be at an earlier risk of developing undiagnosed diabetes compared to males. Although geographical location did not appear to have significant effect on T2DM distribution, this disease contributes to a high economic burden. The expected exponential increase in diabetes prevalence is subsequently expected to affect negatively the healthcare expenditure. This puts forward the recommendation for development of early screening programmes as part of preventive action strategies.

Sources of marine debris for Seychelles and other remote islands in the western Indian Ocean

Vast quantities of debris are beaching at remote islands in the western Indian Ocean. We carry out marine dispersal simulations incorporating currents, waves, winds, beaching, and sinking, for both terrestrial and marine sources of debris, to predict where this debris comes from. Our results show that most terrestrial debris beaching at these remote western Indian Ocean islands drifts from Indonesia, India, and Sri Lanka. Debris associated with fisheries and shipping also poses a major risk. Debris accumulation at Seychelles is likely seasonal, peaking during February–April. This pattern is driven by monsoonal winds and may be amplified during positive Indian Ocean Dipole and El-Niño events. Our results underline the vulnerability of small island states to marine plastic pollution, and are a crucial step towards improved management of the issue. The trajectories used in this study are available for download, and our analyses can be rerun under different parameter choices.

Hazardous and contaminated sites within salt marsh migration corridors in Rhode Island, USA

As salt marshes attempt to migrate upland due to sea level rise, they will encounter many kinds of land development and infrastructure in highly populated, urbanized coastal communities. Hazardous and contaminated sites (HCSs) -- facilities and infrastructure that store, use, or release harmful substances -- are particularly concerning obstacles to salt marsh migration because of their potential to release contaminants if their structural integrity is compromised. Inventorying HCSs within migration pathways can inform coastal resilience planning. To understand what kinds of HCSs migrating marsh may encounter in Rhode Island, USA, we inventoried sites from federal and state sources, assigned contaminant hazard rankings to most sites, and overlayed them with projected marsh migration corridors. We found that HCSs are extensive across marsh migration corridors in the state, especially in urban areas. Among the most common HCSs in and around Rhode Island salt marshes are stormwater outfalls, underground storage tanks, and facilities registered with EPA's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). These sites pose varying hazards to human and aquatic life if breached, with some sites representing little or no threat but most posing some degree of hazard to their surroundings. This coastal HCSs inventory can inform prioritization and management of coastal salt marshes subject to accelerated sea level rise. Management decisions such as allowing marsh migration, implementing adaptation actions to build salt marsh elevation, or erecting physical barriers at marsh sites will influence future salt marsh extent, marshes' ability to provide ecosystem services, and public health exposures to toxic releases. In addition, as Rhode Island and other coastal states work to promote coastal resiliency, this type of inventory can inform decisions about which HCSs to prioritize for remediation and other climate adaptation actions. Marsh migration is just one potential consequence of sea level rise, so many of the considerations outlined here are widely applicable to the broader goal of preparing coastal communities for rising seas.

The Intensification of the Struggle for Influence in Oceania and the Role of Japan

The article is devoted to Japan's policy towards Oceania in the context of the growing confrontation in the region between the coalition of Western powers led by the United States, seeking to maintain and consolidate their dominant positions in Oceania, and China, which is increasingly gaining strength. The Pacific Region, with its important geostrategic position and huge resources, is becoming one of the fronts of the offensive launched by the United States and its allies to strengthen their dominant positions on the world stage. At the same time, China continues its systematic advance in the region, relying on its growing economic power, accumulated large financial assets and steadily increasing technological level. The political, economic, and military aspects of the interaction of the dominant countries in the region with small developing island states, as well as their positions in the context of increased competition and tension between the powers are studied. Particular attention is paid to Japan's desire to strengthen relations with the countries of Oceania and search for its place while maintaining close ties with the United States and its allies. Japan and island States have deep historical ties and successfully cooperate in many areas. Security issues, economic and logistical interests of Tokyo play an important role in this cooperation. Extensive multilateral and bilateral mechanisms for interaction with Pacific island countries have been created, relying on which Tokyo secures its interests in the region. An important role in this situation is played by the position of the Pacific island States, which are increasingly openly declaring their interest in developing relations with all parties, guided primarily by their own interests, the possibilities of obtaining financial and economic assistance to solve the serious problems that have accumulated in the region.