Time to give the ocean its own legal voice

While we debate how Aotearoa New Zealand can move towards a significantly decarbonised world, and how in doing so we can achieve a “just transition”, we need to plan for other important environmental transitions too. That includes how we manage our oceans.

• Dr Greg Severinsen
• newsroom/ideasroom

Aotearoa New Zealand is a maritime nation and our people have strong ties to the sea. We have jurisdiction over a very large marine area, about 20 times the size of our land.

But in 2019 a joint report by the Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand painted a concerning picture.

Biodiversity is in decline, activities on land are polluting the oceans and shorelines, and pest species are a…

• Time to give the…