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28 | OCEAN GOVERNANCE

LEGAL PANEL DISCUSSION
Spotlight on the Law to

improve ocean governance

The First legal panel discussion during the Monaco Ocean Week highlighted
the specific features of the Law of the Sea, the implications of adapting it to new

climate challenges and its actual impact on protecting the marine environment.

On 24 March 2023, the Prince Albert II of Monaco COASTAL RESILIENCE
Foundation invited several specialists in environmen- AND INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
tal and maritime law, as well as indigenous peoples,
to discuss the complex legal framework governing the Moderated by Daniel Wildcat, Professor at Haskell
ocean and its specific characteristics. Legal experts, Indian Nations University and Senior Researcher at
lawyers and university professors spent a whole day the National Science Foundation's Coastal Indige-
debating three major topics relating to the latest si- nous Peoples Centre, the first panel brought together
gnificant advances in law, in particular the High Seas speakers renowned for their work highlighting certain
Treaty. specificities and issues relating to their cultures and
regions. Therefore, Jennifer Santos, Academic Chair
"This meeting is essential to us because all too often, of the Postgraduate Certificate Programme in Disas-
thinking about legal issues relating to the ocean takes ter Prevention Planning at the University of Puerto
place in silos," said Olivier Wenden, Vice-Chairman Rico, followed by Lesley Iaukea, Professor at the Uni-
and Managing Director of the Prince Albert II of Mo- versity of Hawaii at Manoa, who is also Director of
naco Foundation, at the opening of the event. "The the Convergent Science Programme on Indigenous
need for an open and holistic dialogue is central to Knowledge, Land, and the Environment in Hawaii,
this first edition of the legal panel discussion on ocean highlighted the major legal issues surrounding coastal
conservation. It will provide an opportunity to benefit resilience and indigenous law. "We're all akin, we use
from highly complementary perspectives combining the same global resources from one end of the ocean
public and private law, and taking into account extre- to the other", concludes Daniel Wildcat.
mely diverse frameworks and realities, ranging from
international treaties to the customs of indigenous
peoples, to the variety of national legislations and re-
gional agreements. It is within these frameworks and
situations that we need to reconcile ourselves, at a
time when we need to collectively create a new form
of governance for the oceans."