Pacific Island States Research Articles

Heritage Law in Pacific Island States: the Legacies of Colonialism and the Elusive Possibilities of Cultural Emancipation

Heritage Law in Pacific Island States: the Legacies of Colonialism and the Elusive Possibilities of Cultural Emancipation

Официальная помощь в целях развития как аспект австралийско-китайского соперничества в Южно-Тихоокеанском регионе

Due to China's increasing involvement in South Pacific, there is a growing interest on the part of the middle and great powers in providing the Pacific island States with an increasing amount of material assistance. With its unique geographical location, as well as numerous initiatives in the humanitarian, trade, economic and defence areas, Australia's influence is reinforced by its status as the major ODA source in Oceania. At the same time, despite Australia's clear advantage in providing ODA to South Pacific states, the region is attracting an increasing number of countries aimed at providing ODA to South Pacific countries, especially China.

Promoting sustainable and inclusive oceans management in Pacific islands through women and science

The question of how to efficiently and effectively manage ocean resources in a sustainable way has reached the forefront of discussion at an international level, but women's contributions to this process have been underestimated or unrecognized. Inclusive management plays a major role in the effective creation, use and adoption of environmental governance, necessitating efforts to measure, monitor and advance inclusivity. In many Pacific island states, there is a lack of disaggregated data collection and management to assist reliable and liable gender-responsive decision-making by national and regional authorities. This lack of information leads to unquantified female contributions and unexplored potential for women to actively contribute to sustainable ocean management as traditional leaders, researchers or science-based managers and in accordance with traditional customs, cultures and processes. This paper examines the contribution of gender-disaggregated data in both (1) effective management of natural resources and (2) measurement and monitoring of the active involvement of women in ocean management. We seek to shift the question from simply “(How) are oceans used by women?” to “How can we build a clear path towards inclusive oceans management using science?”, drawing data mainly from gender and ocean management practices in Pacific Small Island Developing States. This work also seeks to ground in reality the increasing national and international evocations about social equity and avoidance of gender discrimination. Given the existing relationships of Pacific peoples with the ocean and the emerging status of ocean science-based governance, wider integration of science and women in marine management can make an interesting and positive impact in this region.

How clientelism varies: comparing patronage democracies

ABSTRACTClientelistic vote mobilization is a prominent electoral strategy in many of the world’s democracies and electoral authoritarian regimes. Yet the comparative study of this practice, which involves exchanging personal favours for electoral support, remains strikingly underdeveloped. This special issue makes the case that clientelistic politics takes different forms in different countries, and that this variation matters for understanding democracy, elections, and governance. By comparing clientelistic vote mobilization in several countries – Mexico, Ghana, Sudan to Turkey, Indonesia, the Philippines, Caribbean and Pacific Islands states, and Malaysia – we unpack the concept of political clientelism and show that it is possible to identify different types of patronage democracies. In this introductory essay, we develop a comparative framework for this endeavour, showing that clientelism can be fruitfully compared in terms of the character of the networks that facilitate clientelistic exchange, the benefits that politicians offer in exchange for votes, and the degree to which politicians, and especially parties, control the distribution of state resources. These comparisons lead to the identification of different types of patronage democracies, notably community-centred and party-centred varieties. Building on this framework, this special issue shows that the comparative study of clientelistic politics offers analytical promise for scholars of democracy and democratization.

Debunking Myths about China: The Determinants of China’s Official Financing to the Pacific

ABSTRACT With China rapidly expanding its aid programme in the Pacific Islands region, there is a growing concern among established powers about China’s sway over the aid-dependent Pacific Island states. Systematic studies of China’s development finance to the small island countries are, however, rare and generally limited to mapping Chinese finance flows in the Pacific. This study seeks to contribute to the literature on China’s development efforts in the Pacific Islands region. Drawing on project-level data from AidData for the period 2000–2014, this paper disaggregates China’s official financing into its constituent parts and systematically explores the determinants of China’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) and its commercially-oriented finance flows to the Pacific. The panel data analysis finds that, contrary to popular belief, China does not reward voting compliance in the United Nations nor is its allocation of financing to the Pacific influenced by the countries’ level of indebtedness.

Sharing the Riches of the Sea: The Redistributive and Fiscal Dimension of Deep Seabed Exploitation

Abstract This article seeks to clarify how the principle of common heritage is being implemented and concretized by the fiscal regime of deep seabed mining. It first explicates the exploitation rationale underlying the common heritage principle. It argues that common heritage is a jurisdictional principle that lays the basis for the international allocation and administration of exploitation rights and, thus, for the effective economic exploitation of seabed minerals. This exploitation bias is strengthened by the perceived remoteness of deep seabed mining and the real institutional disembeddedness of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). To better understand the distribution conflicts that the law of deep seabed mining addresses, the article introduces two (competing) sets of public interest objectives: participation in exploitation and revenue generation pursued by newly independent (and, today, developing) states and access to raw materials pursued by industrialized states. The article then focuses on the different ways in which the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Agreement on the Implementation of Part XI promote, reconcile and detract from the identified public interest objectives. It reveals how the participation objective has given way to a focus on market supply and revenue generation, and how the changes of the 1994 Implementation Agreement may be read as an attempt to dissolve the conflict between these competing public interest objectives, and to depoliticize the seabed regime. Third, the article turns to the ongoing work on a mining code for the deep seabed that, inter alia, must implement the ISA’s mandates to generate revenue from deep seabed mining and to redistribute this revenue. It shows how the ISA’s adoption of an individualist stakeholder orientation and its deference to commercial expectations of profitability, in the context of growing political attention to the oceans as a source of economic growth, are further transforming the notion of common heritage and benefit sharing and concomitantly undermine the regime’s redistributive ambitions. It also clarifies how the sponsorship of deep seabed mining by small Pacific island states holds only little promise of significant public revenue generation for these states, but may work to undermine solidarity among developing states. The article ends with a call on international lawyers to recognize the designing of a mining code for the deep seabed as the making of political economy.

Lifestyle behaviour and prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors - a pilot study comparing Kiribati and European seafarers

BackgroundAccording to internal observations within a German shipping company, obvious risk-behaviour persists among the crew members coming from the Pacific Island State of Kiribati and representing a large part of the crew aboard merchant vessels of this company. These observations were related to excessive eating habits. This study aims to assess the cardiovascular risk among seafarers and to compare lifestyle factors between Kiribati and European crew members.MethodsIn the present maritime field study 81 sailors (48 Kiribati, 33 European, average age at 38.9 and 36.8 years respectively) were examined from April until August 2014 aboard four container ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean (participation rate of 90.9%).ResultsBased on the number of established risk factors, 35.4% of the Kiribati and 16.7% of the European crew members were regarded as a high risk group for cardiovascular diseases. The HDL-values of Kiribati were found to be considerably lower (34.9 mg/dl) than the references values given by the WHO and in comparison to the European crew members (44.8 mg/dl) (p = 0.002). 91.7% of Kiribati and 51.5% of European participants were found to be overweight according to WHO-criteria - with a mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30.3 kg/m2 and 25.6 kg/m2 (p < 0.001). Regarding lifestyle factors Kiribati often claimed to eat significantly larger amounts of food aboard while most European sailors stated to eat less or about the same during their shipboard stay (p = 0.017). Daily sleeping hours were slight on both sides; however with a mean of 5.2 h a day Kiribati crew members had significant fewer sleep (p = 0.038). The examined Kiribati sailors had a mean increase in weight of 6 kg over a 12 months period of observation.ConclusionsIn total the compiled data points towards a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases particularly due to alimentary habits within the Kiribati crew members. The distinct weight-gain measured among the Kiribati in spite of higher energy consumption levels at sea is alarming. Thus, the results of this study confirm the necessity of health-improving interventions aboard cargo vessels.

Regionalism and Resilience? Meeting Urban Challenges in Pacific Island States

ABSTRACTUrbanisation in PICs is rapid. Urban planning and management capacity are limited. Economic and environmental pressures are mounting and eroding urban resilience and livelihoods. Because urban planning and regulatory frameworks are weak, national politics and elite interests strongly influence urban development, and inequities in cities are growing. No regional organisation has responsibility for urban issues, urban resilience frameworks are poorly defined, so fragmented and ineffective urban strategies persist, while national policies and practices are resolutely anti-urban. Concerted regional action could enable sharing of knowledge and successful strategies, coordinate urban action to build resilience, and enable a more proactive political and policy agendas for more sustainable and resilient cities.

Between negotiations and litigation: Vanuatu’s perspective on loss and damage from climate change

ABSTRACT This contribution explores how climate-vulnerable states can effectively use the law to force action in order to address loss and damage from climate change, taking the Pacific Island state of Vanuatu as an example. Vanuatu made headlines when its Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and External Trade, the Hon. Ralph Regenvanu, announced his government’s intention to explore legal action as a tool to address climate loss and damage suffered in Vanuatu. Our contribution places this announcement in the context of Vanuatu’s own experience with climate loss and damage, and the state’s ongoing efforts to secure compensation for loss and damage through the multilateral climate change regime. We then discuss the possibilities for legal action to seek redress for climate loss and damage, focusing on two types of action highlighted in Minister Regenvanu’s statement: action against states under international law, and action against fossil fuel companies under domestic law. After concluding that the issue of compensation for climate loss and damage is best addressed at the multilateral level, we offer proposals on how the two processes of litigation and negotiation could interact with each other and inspire more far-reaching action to address loss and damage from climate change. Key policy insights The review of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage offers an opportunity to start putting in place a facility for loss and damage finance under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A climate damages tax (CDT) on fossil fuel companies seems a particularly promising option for mobilizing loss and damage finance. Such a CDT could be one revenue stream for a relevant loss and damage facility. Legal action – including cases against foreign states or fossil fuel companies – could bolster the position of climate-vulnerable states in multilateral negotiations on loss and damage finance.

Esoterogeni og aktiv forskjellsdannelse: &lt;br&gt; Religion og identitetsskapning, i Stillehavet og andre steder

Taking its cue from Marx’ and Weber’s grand theorizing, a key narrative in Western modernity has been the inevitable dissolution of pre-modern identities. This thesis has informed both policy making and notions of global agency, and in effect caused a particular worldview in which everyone will become more or less the same – what I refer to as the Star Trek-vision of globalized culture and values. In this article, I borrow the linguistic concept of ‘esoterogeny’, the creation of the obscure, to address whether difference, far from being coincidental, serves a more fundamental experiential purpose and consequently is actively maintained. The empirical point of departure are church fissions and denominational dynamics in the Pacific island state of Vanuatu. I argue that in an age characterized by identity politics, in which recognition and attention are scarce resources, all keen observers of social systems should expect the outcome of ever more global interaction to lead to an increase in articulations of social and cultural difference.

Plastic debris on Pacific Islands: Ecological and health implications

Plastic debris is a worldwide problem. This is particularly acute in the Pacific region, where its scale is a reason for serious concerns. There is an obvious need for studies to assess the extent to which plastic debris affects the Pacific. Therefore, this research aims to address this need by undertaking a systematic assessment of the ecological and health impacts of plastic debris on Pacific islands. Using pertinent historical qualitative and quantitative data of the distribution of plastic debris in the region, this study identified pollution and contamination trends and risks to ecosystems, and suggests some measures which may be deployed to address the identified problems. The study illustrates the fact that Pacific Island States are being disproportionately affected by plastic, and reiterates that further studies and integrated strategies are needed, involving public education and empowerment, governmental action, as well as ecologically sustainable industry leadership. It is also clear that more research is needed in respect of developing alternatives to conventional plastic, by the production of bio-plastic, i.e. plastic which is produced from natural (e.g. non-fossil fuel-based sources) materials, and which can be fully biodegradable.

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea James Stiefvater (bio) After the 2017 general elections dominated the headlines, the major event to capture the spotlight in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2018 was the country’s hosting of the quadrennial summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (apec). Indeed, the apec meetings garnered large amounts of attention within Papua New Guinea while also attracting international scrutiny into the country’s role as host as well as conditions across the country generally. The apec meetings led to a fresh look into Papua New Guinea by foreign media outlets and acted as a microcosm of international relationships between China and other powers. To a certain degree, Chinese relations with Pacific Island states were on display, but events showing tensions between China and the United States became the main talking points as they were scrutinized by analysts and journalists from across the globe. While the critically important apec summit and related events raised many issues, many other significant happenings highlighted internal challenges to governance, including emergency responses to natural disasters in the form of earthquake relief and resettlement of victims of volcanic activity, continuing strife in the wake of the 2017 elections, accusations of corruption at various levels, upticks in various diseases, devolution of powers to provinces via an as-yet-undefined form of special autonomy, preparation for the referendum on Bougainville, land and development projects, and the long-standing saga of those seeking asylum in Australia but waylaid on Manus Island for the sixth year. Among the many challenges to face the people and government of Papua New Guinea, perhaps none had a broader reach than the handful of natural disasters that affected citizens from almost all regions in one form or another. The largest and most destructive of these was the magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck in February and wrought devastation across the interior. The Highlands region was especially hard hit, as subsequent landslides buried homes and villages, cut off access roads, and damaged airstrips in many communities already considered isolated. Equally dangerous [End Page 544] to the initial quake were the numerous aftershocks that continued to shake the mountainous regions for at least a month. The destructive effects of the tremors were not limited to just the areas that felt them; sedimentation due to landslides muddied drinking water and damaged or killed food sources in downstream communities, especially those in Gulf Province. Census information for the area is hard to collect, making an exact death toll difficult to extrapolate, but most estimates show a loss of life of at least 180 individuals. Offers of aid and relief from international sources came quickly, with Australia and New Zealand leading the charge. In a show of solidarity, young people in Indonesia’s colonial provinces in West New Guinea took up a collection, but the organizers were promptly arrested. The logistics of distributing aid relief across the breadth of destruction—which spanned the Hela, Southern Highlands, Western, Enga, and West Sepik provinces—would present a challenge to any nation, but by August, Emergency Controller Bill Hamblin told Radio New Zealand’s Johnny Blades in an interview that efforts had started to transition from relief to recovery (rnz 2018f). Also posing a challenge to those in disaster response positions were volcanic eruptions on the islands of Kadovar and Manam, both situated on the northern coast. Eruptions on both islands necessitated large-scale evacuations and brought promises from the government for permanent resettlement of residents. Such events on Manam are not new, with a large portion of the population having been resettled after several eruptions in the past, including a 2004 event that led to the displacement of more than nine thousand people. In the aftermath of the 2018 eruption, delayed responses from the government appear to have created an atmosphere of mistrust as residents waited for assistance. Local chief Paul Maburau told reporters that “it’s all talk and no action,” citing that the government had set aside us$922,000 for the resettlement of the islanders but that ‘“no one seems to know where the money has gone” (rnz 2018e). Although the general elections were completed in 2017, controversy regarding their final outcomes continued in 2018...

Contracting Margins? Liquid International Migration in the Pacific

In the smaller Pacific islands especially, migration has a long history. In this century international migration has become more significant in Melanesia, more diverse in terms of destinations and occupation, more valuable to national economies through remittances and more likely to be permanent. Governments of the smaller Pacific island states have become increasingly involved in negotiating migration strategies, as remittances have become more significant for national and household economies. Responding to scarce international opportunities has been particularly difficult in smaller, more remote states. In the coral island states outer islands are losing population. An economic rationale dominates migration but environmental changes are putting further pressure on the coral island states especially, and the margins of settlement in the Pacific are gradually contracting. Reversing these trends is unlikely to be imminent.

Kastom: A Public Policy Exception Under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards

Despite the enormous success of the New York Convention, the Pacific Island countries [“PICs”] are a blank spot on the New York Convention map. Any effort to promote international arbitration law reform in the PICs has to be sensitive to their exciting legal frameworks to be successful. The PICs are plural legal systems in which ‘kastom’ provides a set of norms often equal to positive laws. An obstacle on the PICs’ way to become part of the international arbitration community are fears that their ‘custom’ or ‘kastom’ may be left aside or overridden by the overseas legal principles and paradigms. The paper discusses if and to what extent the PICs’ ‘kastom’ may qualify as ‘public policy’ under Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention, thereby allowing Pacific Island states to deny the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards which they deem fundamentally contrary to their ‘kastom’.

Cancer Care in Small Pacific Island States

Background: Like other LMICs, many Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) have fragile and overburdened health systems with which to combat an increasing burden of cancer. Additionally, a combination of small geographically dispersed populations, limited resources, isolation and frequent natural disasters make cancer control in Pacific Islands also significantly different to elsewhere in the world. No prior work has provided a stocktake of current capacity for diagnosis and treatment of cancer across the region to date. Aim: To describe the specialized health services available for cancer control in the Pacific region, and show the complexity associated with accessing cancer care for Pacific Islanders. Methods: A cross-sectional review of medical services and human resources available for cancer control was undertaken for 21 Pacific Community (SPC) member countries and territories in April-May 2018 , specifically diagnosis (pathology and radiology) and treatment (chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical modalities and overseas referrals for services not available on-island) by contacting individual countries and territories. Common travel routes were mapped individually for 4 PICTs; Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Tokelau; as examples of the unique challenges faced by rural dwelling Pacific Islanders when accessing the highest level of care available in-country. Results: Capacity for cancer diagnosis and care is extremely limited in the Pacific region. The exceptions are the 2 French territories (French Polynesia and New Caledonia) and Guam where a near full complement of services for diagnosis and treatment are operational. Some pathology services are generally available in the larger PICTs, while specimens are sent to affiliated off island laboratories for the rest. Plain x-ray and ultrasound are available at 1 or more locations in all PICTs. General and gynecologic surgery is the most widespread treatment modality available. Some to full chemotherapy administered in 7 and radiotherapy in 3 (formerly 4) PICTs. Overseas referrals for medical services not available in-country are a common feature to all PICTs health systems. A need to travel long distances to access health care is a challenged faced by Pacific Islanders on outer islands and rural villages. Examples will be presented. Conclusion: Cancer control services are few and far between in the Pacific region, and PICTs will always likely rely on overseas referrals for care not available. Access barriers exist for those on outer islands and in villages, and an unknown number seek treatment late or not at all for these reasons. Governments need to invest into strengthening primary and secondary care services, making them an option that is more easily accessible to remote populations. Collaboration between transport and health sectors to look at ways to improve frequency, regulation and safety of modes of transportation to outer islands to improve current systems.

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

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

Comparing perceived effects of climate-related environmental change and adaptation strategies for the Pacific small island states of Tuvalu, Samoa, and Tonga

Inhabitants of Pacific small island states are facing multiple socio-ecological pressures, with climate change being one of the most prominent. Nevertheless, the agency of local stakeholders in decisions on how to adapt to climate-related environmental change has been largely underappreciated in the climate change sciences as well as in policy decisions. We, therefore, conducted a survey study in Tuvalu, Samoa, and Tonga, asking specifically how residents perceive their situation regarding climate-related challenges, what adaptation strategies they have devised and implemented, and what they expect of governmental and nongovernmental organisations in these efforts. In contrast to the common perception that Pacific small island states are primarily threatened by rising sea levels, residents’ perceptions indicate that drought, cyclones and other flood-related problems pose a far more imminent danger. Our results suggest that further research on those perceived environmental changes is advisable to provide reliable data for scientific models and policy decisions.

Regulating the environment for blue-green economy in plural legal states: a view from the Pacific

ABSTRACTThe environments of small island states are particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation and risk, whether natural or man-made. As a result of international initiatives and growing awareness of the need to address environmental concerns, such states are being encouraged to enact legislation to protect the environment and promote sustainable futures. In the Pacific region this future is increasingly linked to the “blue-green” economy: development that builds on the terrestrial and marine resources of Pacific island states. At the same time, internationally, there is an emerging acknowledgment of the value of traditional, indigenous and localised management of these resources. In the Pacific customary law is just one source of law in plural legal systems. The challenge then is how to develop environmental law which capitalises on the strength of plural approaches, promotes a “blue-green economy” and meets the international and regional expectations of commitment to environmental protection?While a regional model law has not yet been proposed this article undertakes a doctrinal examination of existing legislation across the region in order to identify different legislative provisions which might be used to develop a holistic, normatively plural approach to future efforts to provide a legal framework for translating blue-green policy into law.

Unsettled Sovereignty and the Sea: Mobilities and More-Than-Territorial Configurations of State Power

How do mobilities associated with oceans and the resources inside of them shape the spatial and temporal dimensions of state sovereignty? As an entry point into this question, this article explores the fifty-year, multistate struggle over access to, and control over, highly migratory tuna stocks in the Pacific Ocean, focusing on the historical relationship among Pacific Island states, the United States, and the United States–flagged tuna fishing fleet. The analysis corroborates scholarship in resource geography and political geography that demonstrates that sovereignty is neither inherently territorial nor exclusively organized on a state-by-state basis, enhancing it to show that the lively nature of oceans and mobile global capital extracting resources from them create a wide range of political possibilities for state influence. The findings reveal that to gain control over, or access to, mobile ocean resources, states construct and express sovereignty in relation to each other and the interests of global capital. At times, multiple and conflicting legal institutions and definitions of sovereignty over the same set of resources can simultaneously be in play. The result is temporally and spatially dynamic sovereignty that is continuously negotiated among “foreign” and “national” interests forced together by fluid ocean materialities and the mobile nature of transnational fishing capital vying for extraction privileges. This analysis reveals mobilities as generative of more-than-territorial institutional innovations that continuously remake the spatial contours of state sovereignty over resources.

Overview of trends in cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors in Fiji

Context: Fiji has undergone an epidemiological transition, characterised by declining infectious disease and childhood mortality, that has been offset by rising cardiovascular disease mortality. Other Pacific Island states are in a comparable situation.Objective: With a focus on Fiji, this study reviews and contextualises research performed by the authors and others that examines cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and their risk factors in Pacific Island states.Methods: This overview covers evidence for the causes and consequences of CVD risk factors and the epidemiological transition and reflects on biological and evolutionary hypotheses. It is based on studies the authors carried out that synthesised disparate population-based CVD risk factor surveys conducted in Fiji over 1980–2012.Results: Prevalences of obesity, T2DM and hypertension continue to increase in the Fiji population. Tobacco smoking prevalence has decreased, but remains relatively high in men compared to many developed countries. T2DM and hypertension trends, and CVD consequences related to diet, exercise and tobacco smoking, have placed the Fiji population in a variant of the epidemiological transition manifesting as a plateau in life expectancy similar to that of numerous developed countries during the mid-20th century.Conclusion: There is evidence that risk factors and consequent CVD mortality can be reduced in populations. Obesity and T2DM reductions have been observed only in populations surviving in dire circumstances. Interventions to lower the prevalence of CVD and T2DM risk factors in the Fiji population require multi-faceted approaches, with continual monitoring and evaluation for their impact on these risk factors and morbidity and mortality outcomes.