'Negotiating the Ocean', hosted by ANCORS researchers, explore the international negotiations behind ocean issues
The ocean encompasses more than 70 per cent of the Earth's surface. Yet, beneath its surface lies a complex web of power and influence. Who holds the reins when it comes to the world's ocean? Who decides how its resources are harnessed, its depths explored, and its future shaped?
A new podcast spearheaded by the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), based at the University of Wollongong (UOW), will dive into the complexities of our ocean and how issues such as climate change, pollution, and fisheries management are negotiated on the international stage.
Negotiating the Ocean, hosted by Dr Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki, Dr Bianca Haas, and Jennifer Macey, will examine the state of our ocean through the lens of equity and social justice.
The podcast will launch this week with new episodes to be rolled out ahead of the upcoming meetings on marine biodiversity, fisheries, deep-sea mining and the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in France in June.
The hosts will talk to experts, scientists, and policymakers from around the world, providing an audio guide as to how inclusivity and fairness are considered in the international negotiation process around who gets to benefit from our ocean and its resource, and why.
ANCORS is the only multidisciplinary university-based centre of its type in the Southern Hemisphere dedicated to delivering specialised research, advisory services, education and training in ocean law and policy, maritime security, and marine resources management.
Dr Tessnow-von Wysocki, an Ocean Nexus Postdoctoral Research Fellow at ANCORS, said the podcast is a behind the scenes look at the international negotiations that impact how nations use the ocean, and its resources.
"ANCORS is home to world-leading experts in marine research and ocean governance. Many of our members attend these international meetings at the United Nations as observers and delegates. Through this podcast, they can take listeners behind the scenes of these incredibly complex and remarkable negotiations".
"We'll talk to experts around the world about the challenges facing the ocean and how the global community is trying to address them. By bringing to the surface the complex issues of ocean governance, we aim to empower listeners with knowledge, inspiring a wave of informed advocacy for our blue planet.
"Above all, we'll look at these issues through the lens of equity, which means the process needs to be inclusive of different voices – because outcomes of the negotiations affect us all."
The team behind the ANCORS podcast (from left), Jennifer Macey, Dr Bianca Haas, and Dr Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki.
Episodes will focus on the new High Seas Treaty, tuna fisheries, deep-sea mining, conservation and biodiversity to name a few.
Dr Tessnow-von Wysocki and Dr Haas are based in ANCORS' Ocean Equity Research, a collective of experts studying and advising on how to manage human interaction with our ocean in a way that achieves the most desirable outcomes for all.
Ms Macey is a journalist, podcast producer, lecturer and current PhD candidate at UOW.
Dr Haas said the podcast explores the ways that ocean conservation intersects with issues around social justice.
"Through this lens, social justice and equity when it comes to oceans demands, we address not only who bears the brunt of pollution and climate impacts but also who benefits from conservation efforts".
"True equity means prioritising communities who are often most dependent on the ocean yet least protected from harm. Protecting the ocean must include protecting the people who rely on them most".
To listen to Negotiating the Oceans, visit: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7IPZFgEyshnioSFypi7Yay?si=vAgz-357Rz6CPDwIwk_pHA&nd=1&dlsi=18f9034adba44fe1
