Humanity’s relationship with the Ocean needs to be transformed to effectively address the multitude of governance crises facing the Ocean, including overfishing, climate change, pollution, and habitat destruction. Earth law, including Rights of Nature, provides a pathway to center humanity as a part of Nature and transform our relationship from one of dominion and separateness towards holism and mutual enhancement. Within the Earth law framework, an Ocean-centered approach views humanity as interconnected with the Ocean, recognizes societies’ collective duty and reciprocal responsibility to protect and conserve the Ocean, and puts aside short-term gain to respect and protect future generations of all life and the Ocean’s capacity to regenerate and sustain natural cycles. This Essay presents Ocean-centered governance as an approach to help achieve the 10 challenges for collective impact put forward as part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and therefore living in a harmonious relationship with the Ocean.

Sea level rise (SLR) poses significant threats to northeast and mid-Atlantic Tribal Nations' climate and water justice. Existing SLR adaptation frameworks do not include Indigenous knowledge. Furthermore, SLR adaptation policy prioritizes economic and property rights and is misaligned with Indigenous coastal protection priorities. If Tribal Nations are to respond effectively to SLR then adaptation frameworks must be designed and developed by Indigenous Peoples for Indigenous Peoples. Eastern coastal Tribal Nations have a unique history of survival and resilience despite settler-colonial expansion in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of what is currently referred to as the United States. Experiences of eastern Atlantic coastal Tribal Nations highlight innovative response strategies for SLR adaptation and coastal stewardship practices not reflected in existing adaptation frameworks for the region. Indigenist SLR adaptation frameworks that utilize Indigenous knowledge are needed to combat water security issues resulting from SLR risks such as flooding, saltwater intrusion, storm surge, and erosion. This article proposes the WAMPUM adaptation framework informed by northeastern and mid-Atlantic coastal Tribal Nation science and knowledge systems for climate change adaptation to SLR.

In response to COVID-19, this commentary explores the disproportionate impacts that the pandemic is having on Indigenous nations of Turtle Island (North America) and the rendering of Indigenous borders as sites of compassionate community care. I argue that settler colonialism during COVID-19 is enacted through travel and second-home escapism of urban elites.

Launched at COP16 In Cali, Colombia in 2024, this Blue Paper, 'Co-producing Sustainable Ocean Plans with Indigenous and traditional knowledge holders'

The institutional logics of Western academic research often conflict with the epistemologies and goals of Indigenous peoples. Research sovereignty is a right but still an aspiration for many Indigenous peoples. National funding agencies and Western universities have sought to resolve these conflicts through various institutional and organizational settlements. We combined a systematic literature search with critical content analysis and synthesis to compare the prospect for Indigenous research sovereignty in Australia, Canada, the United States, and New Zealand. Our comparison of the strategies used to resolve conflicts between competing institutional logics highlights the limitations of segmentation and segregation as well as other barriers to truly blended, or reconciled, institutional logics in colonial government and Western university research institutions and organizations.

Indigenous knowledge is often disregarded and opportunities for positive change are lost. To protect the Ocean, a “two-eyed seeing” approach combining Indigenous and western knowledge systems can create advancements while empowering coastal Indigenous Peoples.