“Human Dimensions of Oceans: From a Sociological Perspective” blog series is live on FATHOM.

CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE BLOG BY OCEAN NEXUS

The United Nations discussions on ocean justice highlight procedural inequities in global decision-making, especially for small island developing states (SIDS). The BBNJ Agreement's implementation phase raises concerns about fair participation, resource distribution, and institutional design, affecting SIDS’ ability to influence outcomes. The upcoming COP1 will test equity in governance and procedural justice.
The first thing is to remember to always take the dual nature of science – its explanatory power as well as its very human foundations – into account. Science will always reflect the social conditions of production, from the agendas of its owners to the time and place it was created to the technologies and strategies then available for researchers to much else. We should therefore be weary of ideas that accept our own time, place, economies, and culture as “natural,” for these conditions change.