March 12, 2021 — Small island states in the Pacific are opening a new front in the fight against rising seas, to secure rights to an ocean area bigger than the moon and home to billion-dollar fish stocks.
States from Kiribati to Tuvalu are mapping their most remote islands, scattered across the ocean, in a bid to claim permanent exclusive economic zones (EEZs), stretching 200 nautical miles offshore, irrespective of future sea level rise.
As global warming pushes waters higher, Pacific nations fear some of their islands could be swamped, shrinking their EEZs and rights to fishing and mining within their boundaries – so they are trying to lock in existing zones now.
“There’s a sense of urgency,” said Jens Krüger, deputy director of the ocean and maritime program at the Fiji-based Pacific Community, a development organization.
“Sea level rise and climate change are threats that can devastate our islands.”