By RISE UP The latest International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council meeting in Kingston concluded without the adoption of a Mining Code, without approval for commercial deep-sea mining, and without resolving the major scientific, legal and governance questions that continue to shape the debate over the future of the deep ocean. As the ISA Assembly continues […]
Read MoreGuest blog: Mr.Robert Panipilla, Friends of Marine Life, India On June 8, 2026, coinciding with World Ocean Day, a landmark event in marine conservation unfolded at the Trivandrum Press Club in Kerala. The nation welcomed its first Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register, an initiative spearheaded by the collective Friends of Marine Life. This pioneering endeavour […]
Read MoreBy RISE UP Before the 11th Our Ocean Conference opened its doors, members of the RISE UP network gathered in Mombasa for a working session. Small-scale fishers’ associations, Indigenous Peoples’ organisations, youth networks and civil society groups came together in one room ahead of the main conference. A small gathering before a very large […]
Read MoreBy RISE UP At the June 2026 UN Climate Meetings in Bonn, also known as SB64, governments, experts, civil society and observers gathered for the 2026 Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue. Convened under the UNFCCC process, the Dialogue created space to look more closely at how the ocean is being reflected in climate action, particularly […]
Read MoreBy Hollie Booth, University of Oxford, Bangor University & Yayasan Kebersamaan Untuk Lautan (KUL) Earlier this month, Kebersamaan Untuk Lautan (KUL) joined RISE UP for the Ocean at a workshop in Jakarta on one of the most consequential issues facing coastal communities today: the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. Convened by INDEF, […]
Read MoreThis month in Hua Hin, Thailand, hundreds of fishers, researchers, organizers, policymakers and community leaders gathered for the TBTI 5th World Small Scale Fisheries Congress. Calling it simply a conference almost feels misleading, as it felt more like a meeting point between movements. There were academic panels and policy discussions, but also community exchanges, storytelling […]
Read MoreFrom 24 to 29 April 2026, RISE UP participated in the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia. Co-hosted by the Governments of Colombia and the Netherlands, the conference marked the first international space dedicated specifically to how countries can transition away from fossil fuels. While the conference did […]
Read MoreBy RISE UP members World Trade Organization (WTO) members convened from 26 to 30 March in Yaoundé, Cameroon, for their 14th Ministerial Conference. This is the decision-making body that meets every two years to shape how the institution can address challenges facing the international trading system. This year, members discussed critical issues such as harmful subsidies: $22 billion that governments pay to fishing operators to keep them profitable and one of […]
Read MoreThe Third Session of the Preparatory Commission (PrepCom III) for the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) marked a pivotal step in moving from negotiation to implementation. Held from 23 March to 2 April 2026 at UN Headquarters in New York, the session brought together over 200 representatives from governments, civil […]
Read MoreAfter two weeks inside the International Seabed Authority Council negotiations in Kingston, Jamaica, I can say this clearly: the world is not ready for deep-sea mining. Not scientifically. Not technically. Not in terms of governance. And yet the pressure to move forward continues undeterred by the scale of what remains unresolved. I was present at […]
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