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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaking at the opening of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference. Credit: UNDESA

By Naureen Hossain
NICE, France, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

The world has converged along the Mediterranean Sea to affirm their commitments to the sustainable use and protection of the ocean.

June 9 marked the first day of the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which is being held in Nice, France. The overarching theme of this year’s conference is “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean,” which will see global stakeholders take urgent steps towards conserving the oceans, seas, and marine resources.

Over 50 heads of government and state, along with thousands of scientists, non-governmental organizations, business leaders, Indigenous people, and civil society groups, are participating in the conference.

In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries to make “bold pledges” toward conserving the ocean.

“We must also strengthen maritime security as a pillar of sustainable development. And we must embed ocean priorities across climate, food systems, and sustainable finance.”

Guterres remarked on ongoing negotiations on global agreements, such as the World Trade Organization’s agreement on fisheries and the International Maritime Organization’s commitment to reach net zero emissions from shipping by 2050.

“This proves multilateralism works—but only if we match words with action. By developing concrete national plans aligned with global targets; by harnessing science, driving innovation, and ensuring fair access to technology; by empowering fishers, Indigenous peoples, and youth; and above all, by investing.”

This conference will focus on a range of concerns on ocean conservation and governance. The impacts of global warming and climate change have had dramatic effects on the ocean’s systems. Extreme heating has put greater pressure on the ocean’s food systems and ecosystems. The Blue Economy – the systems of trade and industry that rely on the oceans and seas – needs to be strengthened and more inclusive. Plastic pollution is a particularly pervasive issue, as over 23 million tons enter the ocean as waste.

President Emmanuel Macron of France remarked on the consensus that has made the conference possible as a “victory against indifference.” He noted, however, that this was a “fragile victory,” adding that it “requires rapid action, and we cannot afford to move backwards… we know what is at stake.”

“We need to revitalize multilateralism behind the UN Secretary General,” said Macron, adding, “the only way to meet that challenge is to mobilize all actors, heads of state and government speaking here, but also scientists.”

President Rodrigo Chaves Robles of Costa Rica stated the Ocean Conference “must be remembered as the time when the world understood that looking after the ocean is not simply an option. Rather, it is a moral and economic issue, and indeed we need minimum protection.”

“Let’s leave behind this indifference. Let’s build together a new contract… so that nobody exploits anything on other people’s backs.”

Countries were encouraged to ratify the UN Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), which was first adopted in 2023. At present, fifty countries have committed to the BBNJ.

The conference is expected to see the adoption of the Nice Ocean Action Plan, a set of outcomes based on an intergovernmentally negotiated political declaration and voluntary commitments from member states. This Action Plan is expected to include outcomes that will catalyze urgent, inclusive, and science-based actions to safeguard the ocean for generations to come.

The commitments made during the conference and beyond should be done with the consideration and perspective of developing countries, especially small-island developing states (SIDs). During the first plenary session, President of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr. remarked that from the beginning, island nations have always been “the voice for the ocean” and have been at the forefront of global marine regulatory and development frameworks, including the BBNJ, which Palau was one of the first states to ratify.

“The ocean ecosystems don’t follow national boundaries… we need a governance framework that reflects that reality,” said Whipps.

Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands, remarked that the world’s responsibility to the ocean is “not just environmental stewardship” but also a “fusion of traditional wisdom and modern science, where conservation is driven by community, not just compliance.”

“As a frontline [state], our call today is not of privilege or abundance, but of moral obligation and generational responsibility. We speak not from the comfort of distance but from immediacy of experience,” said Heine.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Related Articles

• Oceans at Risk: Report Warns Global Fossil Fuel Expansion Threatens Marine Biodiversity
• UNOC3: Bringing Ocean Education and Science to the Global Agenda
• Global Push to Protect Oceans Gains Momentum Ahead of UN Conference in Nice

Maurice Kamto angered officials over comments he made about Cameroon's president while in France.

The Ojude Oba festival in south-west Nigeria combines fashion and culture connecting people to their roots.

The Ojude Oba festival in south-west Nigeria combines fashion and culture connecting people to their roots.

The Ojude Oba festival in south-west Nigeria combines fashion and culture connecting people to their roots.

By CIVICUS
Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses Nicaragua’s withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other international organisations with Wisthon Noguera, an activist, student and deputy coordinator of the National Youth Platform of Nicaragua.

Wisthon Noguera

In May, the Nicaraguan government announced its withdrawal from UNESCO after the organisation awarded the World Press Freedom Prize to La Prensa, a Nicaraguan newspaper operating in exile. The regime branded the newspaper a traitor and accused it of inciting foreign interference. The government’s move comes as part of a systematic offensive against press freedom and means a further loss of international space for Nicaraguan civil society.

Why did Nicaragua withdraw from UNESCO?

This departure is the latest episode in a strategy of isolation that began in early 2025. The regime has systematically abandoned United Nations agencies that have questioned its rule. First came the Food and Agriculture Organization in February, after it ranked Nicaragua among the countries with the highest levels of hunger in the world. President Daniel Ortega denounced ‘interventionist tendencies’ and closed the agency’s offices.

This was followed by a symbolic withdrawal from the Human Rights Council after its experts recommended that the state be brought before the International Court of Justice for stripping over 450 people of their nationality. And in late February, Nicaragua also left the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration after receiving reform recommendations from them. This pattern repeated in May with the departure from UNESCO.

The logic is simple: the regime rejects any body that questions it, seeking to consolidate absolute control by eliminating all external oversight.

What does this decision reveal about the regime’s repressive strategy?

Its strategy of international isolation reinforces internal control, which intensified after the crackdown on 2018 protests. Since then, the regime has launched a relentless offensive against civil society organisations, independent media and universities.

Journalists have paid the highest price. Notable cases such as the murder of Ángel Gahona and the enforced disappearance of Fabiola Tercero illustrate the dangers of exercising freedom of expression. The result is devastating: 283 journalists have been forced into exile, media outlets such as La Prensa operate from abroad with enormous limitations, and a climate of fear and self-censorship now prevails within Nicaragua.

The education sector is also suffering the consequences. UNESCO’s departure weakens educational programmes just as the regime has expropriated universities, eliminated public funding and revoked the legal status of at least 37 educational institutions, including the emblematic Central American University.

Meanwhile, the regime has carried out constitutional changes to legalise authoritarianism, further weakening the separation of powers and closing the few remaining spaces for democratic participation. Its aim is to eliminate any form of internal or external oversight and silence all critical voices, including those resisting from exile.

Are other countries in the region on the same trajectory?

Nicaragua is part of a worrying regional authoritarian trend. In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele has also restricted civil society organisations through legislation such as the Foreign Agents Law, which imposes a 30 per cent tax on foreign donations. Both governments use similar strategies to restrict freedom of association and the funding of independent media and organisations.

They are even collaborating with US immigration policies for profit: while El Salvador negotiates the reception of deportees from the USA in exchange for funding for its prisons, Nicaragua receives them in secret. This underlines the urgent need to strengthen regional civil society networks and develop common strategies against authoritarianism.

How is Nicaraguan civil society resisting?

Repression has decimated civil society, but has not eliminated it entirely. Since 2018, over 5,600 organisations have been dissolved, resulting in the almost total dismantling of the national civic fabric. The few remaining organisations operate under strict state supervision and have no real autonomy.

Internal resistance is virtually non-existent due to the enormous risks involved, but the diaspora keeps international condemnation alive in exile. Exiled organisations document the consequences of authoritarianism and urge host governments to take stronger measures against the regime.

However, resistance requires more than declarations. Civil society needs effective protection mechanisms for at-risk activists and journalists, as well as sustainable funding to enable them to continue operating from exile. International commitment to democracy and human rights in Nicaragua must translate into tangible actions of solidarity that strengthen civic resistance, inside and outside the country.

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Nicaragua: ‘The regime counts on the disappearance of civil society, but people will always look for ways to organise themselves’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Amaru Ruiz 24.Feb.2025
Nicaragua: a dynasty in the making CIVICUS Lens 17.Feb.2025
135 political prisoners expelled from Nicaragua; closure of 1,500 CSOs within one month CIVICUS Monitor 15.Nov.2024

 

Credit: IMF Photo/Ebunoluwa Akinbo

By Wenjie Chen, Michele Fornino, Hamza Mighri and Can Sever
WASHINGTON DC, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

More than half of sub-Saharan Africa’s population lives in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS)—economies that face profound challenges such as stagnant economic growth, weak institutions, inadequate public services, extreme poverty, war, and forced internal displacement.

Some countries have transitioned out of extreme fragility by implementing sound macroeconomic policies, diversifying the economy, and strengthening institutions. However, as we explain in our analytical note in the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, recovering from the successive shocks of recent years is likely to be difficult for many FCS, faced with erratic growth, political instability, exposure to natural disasters, and heavy resource dependency.

Fragility carries a stark human cost. With strained budgets, vast development needs, and insufficient funding, fragile states in the region consistently rank at the bottom of global development indicators.

Life expectancy lingers at 60 years, poverty rates are twice as high as in non-FCS in the region, and elementary school completion rates remain among the lowest globally. If current trends continue, by 2030 two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor will live in fragile states, with sub-Saharan Africa at the epicenter.

Many fragile states struggle to sustain the bursts of faster growth needed to escape poverty. As the Chart of the Week shows, while non-FCS economies in sub-Saharan Africa managed to keep growing after the pandemic—albeit more slowly than previously forecast—fragile states in the region haven’t been able to regain lost ground, with inflation-adjusted income per person still, on average, below its 2019 level.

When FCS suffer a downturn, they lose revenue and have limited access to affordable financing, forcing them to cut expenditures more sharply than in non-FCS. This results in a relatively longer and deeper fiscal contraction, exacerbating the initial shock, as shown in a recent IMF working paper.

Fragility is more than a lack of institutional capability and armed conflict: it often reflects deeper political and economic forces that make recovery elusive. Restricted access to international financial markets, weaker institutions, and limited entrepreneurship in fragile states result in significantly smaller private sector contributions to the economy and fewer employment opportunities compared with other countries.

However, some fragile states have managed to break free by focusing on participatory governance, institutional reform, and economic diversification. Countries that curb corruption, strengthen institutions, and promote political participation are more likely to mitigate fragility, according to our analysis of past cases based on a machine learning approach.

Indeed, past lessons offer hope. After its 2002 civil war, Sierra Leone sought to prioritize rebuilding infrastructure and public services in education and health care, while Liberia, after four years of civil war ended in 2003, strengthened core institutions and reduced reliance on extractive industries. Both nations used pivotal moments to reset societal expectations, rebuild trust, and set a new course.

Employment and income

FCS in the region are simultaneously major sources of refugees and key hosts. Despite the acute challenges and constraints, several FCS (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Niger, among others) have implemented innovative refugee policies, such as granting refugees free movement, work permits, and access to public services.

While these measures require up-front investments and administrative capacity, well-designed refugee integration strategies can boost employment and income for both the host country and the refugees.

The transition toward sustained growth and resilience is a long-term process requiring perseverance and adaptability, not a quick fix. No single policy guarantees success. Instead, states that focus on a package of measures to build inclusive institutions, maintain economic stability, and seize key opportunities for reform are far more likely to succeed.

In line with the Fund’s Strategy for Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCS), our policy recommendations include:

• Restoring macroeconomic stability by strengthening fiscal institutions and improving public financial management.
• Rebuilding trust by improving governance and ensuring that revenues—particularly from natural resources—are managed responsibly.
• Creating opportunities for broader public engagement and ensuring a fairer allocation of resources to ultimately strengthen social unity and resilience.
• Forming long-term partnerships with international partners, including donors, can help support capacity building, financing social programs, and mitigating the impact of economic shocks— ensuring that fragility does not escalate into a global crisis.

This blog is based on an analytical note for the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa authored by Wenjie Chen, Michele Fornino, Vidhi Maheshwari, Hamza Mighri, Annalaura Sacco, and Can Sever.

For more, see the IMF’s strategy for fragile and conflict-affected states.

IPS UN Bureau

 

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

As the Trump administration continues its battle against the United Nations– over war crimes, human rights, and the climate treaty, among others — they also remain sharply divided over Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex. (LGBTI) rights.

The US has taken several actions, some by Executive Order, related to transgender people, including restricting Access to Gender-Affirming Care, banning Transgender Individuals from Military Service, rescinding Protections for Transgender Students and ending Federal Funding for gender Ideology.

But in contrast, the United Nations recognizes transgender people and their rights, affirming the human right of transgender individuals to legal recognition of their gender identity, including the right to change their gender on official documents like birth certificates.

The UN also works to protect transgender people from discrimination and violence, and advocates for their inclusion and equality.

As the campaign for a female UN secretary-general (UNSG) continues to accelerate, there was a proposal, circulating in the corridors of the UN last week, that a member state should be prompted to sponsor a token transgender candidate for UNSG.

Perhaps it may not be a political reality in the long run but it could well be a symbolical act of defiance against the Trump administration, one Asian diplomat told IPS.

Asked for her comments, Sanam Anderlini, founder and CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network, told IPS: “We don’t have time for symbolism or gimmicks or performative issues. The UN is a serious matter, needing serious experienced leadership”.

In principle, the sex of the candidates or a nominee should not matter. It should be about their experience. “But we have seen that for 80 years, member states have persisted in selecting men,” she pointed out.

So, they have made female representation an issue.

“As I said before, we need a woman — we have plenty of extraordinary potential candidates. If there is a qualified transgender candidate, perhaps they’d like to throw their hat in the ring.”

But to suggest that a transgender candidate should be named ‘symbolically’ is, I believe, a denigration of the trans community, the UN and women., she declared.

According to a report in Cable News Network (CNN) last week, June is “Pride Month”, when the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities celebrate the freedom to be themselves.

“Yet, those who identify as LGBTQ — especially transgender people — are still fighting battles for the right to exist without prejudice.”

Fearing reprisals from right-wing customers and the Trump administration, 39% of consumer brands are scaling back their Pride Month engagements this year.

President Trump has threatened to cut funding for California because one transgender high school athlete participated in the state’s track and field championships over the weekend.

The Education Department has ordered the University of Pennsylvania to ban transgender athletes from participating on women’s teams. The Pentagon is forcing transgender service members to leave the military and has banned them from enlisting.

And the Department of Health and Human Services has told health care providers to stop providing gender-affirming care for minors, said CNN

Meanwhile, the US-UN conflicts include US withdrawals from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Human Rights Council (HRC), and threats against the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA)—perhaps with more to come.

Dr James E. Jennings, President Conscience International, told IPS “tyrants, autocrats, and oligarchs are always the ones who want to take people’s rights away, preferring a stratified society with themselves on top to an egalitarian one”.

However, the founding documents of the United States proclaim the opposite–affirming liberty and justice for all and intended to promote the general welfare by protecting the individual rather than the state, he said.

“We are entitled to ask, “Which is it? Are human rights truly to be democratized or not?” If so, we can learn to manage our society equally by caring for each and every person in it”, he asked.

Even though issues of societal mores and human sexuality are difficult to put into a code of laws because attitudes and practices change over time, the law itself changes from generation to generation.

The principle of human freedom trumps Trump and his MAGA minions, declared Dr Jennings.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has taken several actions related to transgender people including:

• Treatment of Transgender Individuals in Federal Prisons: Policies have been put in place to treat transgender individuals in federal prisons according to their sex assigned at birth, potentially leading to harmful housing arrangements.
• Elimination of Gender from Federal Websites: Information related to “gender ideology” has been removed from federal websites, and the term “gender” has been replaced with “sex” in some instances.
• Denial of Passport Gender Markers: Requests for passports with gender markers other than male or female, and requests to change gender markers between male and female, are being denied.

But many of these policies have faced legal challenges, according to published reports.

• The Supreme Court has allowed the ban on transgender military service to take effect for now, but litigation is ongoing.
• The administration’s actions have drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates who argue that they are discriminatory and harmful.

According to the UN, LGBTQI+ people are discriminated against in the labour market, in schools and in hospitals, mistreated and disowned by their own families. They are singled out for physical attack – beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured and killed.

Discrimination and hate-motivated violence against LGBTQI+ people is widespread, brutal, and often perpetrated with impunity, and it is even worse for those belonging to racialized communities. They are also victims of torture and ill treatment, including in custody, clinics and hospitals.

In some 77 countries, discriminatory laws criminalize private, consensual same-sex relationships – exposing individuals to the risk of arrest, prosecution, imprisonment — even, in at least five countries, the death penalty.

Since 2010, according to Outright International, transgender people in the United States have been able to change their gender markers on their passports.

In 2021, the US State Department aligned this policy with international best practices by removing requirements for physician certification to do so, and in 2022 it began offering the option of an “X” gender marker on passports for nonbinary people.

In reversing these policies, the Trump Administration undermines trans, nonbinary, and intersex people’s ability to have their gender identity recognized and respected, directly conflicting with the principles of self-determination and autonomy.

Requiring people to carry identity documents that do not reflect their gender expression also exposes them to an increased risk of violence and restricts their freedom of movement, a right protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The policy could pose an immediate risk to members of the armed services and other US government personnel who are currently deployed or working abroad on passports that reflect their gender identity, said Outright International.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-and-ending-funding-to-certain-united-nations-organizations-and-reviewing-united-states-support-to-all-international-organizations/

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

A report documents the impact of unchecked oil and gas projects in biologically rich and ecologically sensitive environments. Credit: Spencer Thomas

By Umar Manzoor Shah
SACRAMENTO, US & NEW DELHI, India:, Jun 9 2025 (IPS)

A newly released report by Earth Insight in collaboration with 16 environmental organizations has sounded a global alarm on the unchecked expansion of offshore oil and gas projects into some of the most biologically rich and ecologically sensitive marine environments on the planet.

Titled Ocean Frontiers at Risk: Fossil Fuel Expansion Threats to Biodiversity Hotspots and Climate Stability, the report documents how 2.7 million square kilometers of ocean territory—an area nearly the size of India—has been opened to oil and gas exploration, much of it within or adjacent to protected areas and biodiversity hotspots.

The findings are based on a detailed spatial analysis of 11 case study regions, with data drawn from government ministries, investor briefings, and independent mapping efforts. The report was released ahead of the 3rd UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) taking place in Nice, France, this week.

Tyson Miller, Executive Director of Earth Insight, described the process in an exclusive interview with Inter Press Service (IPS).

“Our research unit selected 11 frontier regions out of many and built a dataset with a mix of publicly available data and digitized information where government data was lacking,” Miller said. “It was shocking to see the scale of planned oil and gas expansion and LNG development, knowing that fossil fuel expansion shouldn’t be happening—let alone in some of the world’s most sensitive ecosystems.”

‘Overlap between oil blocks and critical habitats deeply troubling’

The report warns of massive ecological consequences as oil and gas activities encroach on coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass meadows, and Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMA). Many of these zones fall within existing or proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), which the international community has pledged to safeguard under initiatives like the 30×30 goal—protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030.

“Expanding marine protected areas is essential,” said Miller. “Safeguarding protected areas from oil and gas expansion and industrial development should go without saying. Yet, the extent of overlap between oil blocks and critical habitats is deeply troubling.”

In regions like the Gulf of California—also known as “the world’s aquarium”—LNG projects are already threatening a marine ecosystem that supports 39 percent of all marine mammal species and sustains hundreds of millions of dollars in fisheries. Despite local opposition and delayed environmental impact assessments, the area remains under active threat from fossil fuel expansion.

Meanwhile, off the coasts of Seychelles and Mauritius, the Saya de Malha Bank—a massive seagrass meadow that stores up to 10 percent of the ocean’s annual carbon despite covering just 0.2 percent of its surface—is now 98 percent overlapped by oil and gas blocks.

“There are important efforts underway to support the creation of a Marine Protected Area in the region—and if an exclusion of oil and gas and industrial activity in the area accompanied that, that would be a real positive step in the right direction,” Miller said.

Another key theme of the report is the outsized pressure placed on countries in the Global South to become new frontiers for fossil fuel extraction, even as they face increasing debt and climate vulnerability. Governments facing financial strain are often courted by foreign energy firms with promises of investment, job creation, and energy independence. However, the long-term consequences—both ecological and financial—are far more complex.

“Many countries in the Global South face high external debt and economic development pressures,” Miller explained. “Perhaps debt relief and payments for ecosystem services can become effective levers to help safeguard coastlines. Without this support, elected officials may greenlight projects that ultimately cost far more in the form of pollution, habitat destruction, and cleanup efforts.”

Indeed, the Ocean Protection Gap Report, also referenced in Earth Insight’s study, identifies billions of dollars in promised—but yet to be delivered—financing for marine conservation and climate resilience in low-income nations.

Incredible Work by Frontline and Indigenous Communities

Despite facing immense challenges, Indigenous and coastal communities are leading grassroots resistance movements in many of the threatened regions. In Mexico’s Gulf of California, local activism has successfully delayed LNG terminal approvals due to the absence of proper environmental reviews. In the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, and elsewhere, community-led campaigns continue to demand transparency, ecological justice, and a halt to extractive projects.

“Frontline and Indigenous communities are doing incredible work to oppose fossil fuel expansion, often with limited resources and at great personal risk,” said Miller. “They need more direct support and more visible platforms to champion their vision for the future.”

Yet these communities, according to the report, are frequently up against entrenched corporate and political interests, making their fight not just environmental but also a struggle for democratic participation, land rights, and long-term sovereignty over natural resources.

Policy Roadmap

The report has pitched a policy roadmap for global leaders, particularly in the lead-up to high-stakes forums like COP and the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC). These include:

• Halting all new coastal and offshore fossil fuel developments, especially in environmentally sensitive regions.
• Removing unassigned oil and gas blocks and stopping the approval of new exploration licenses and permits.
• Ending financial support—including investments, insurance, and financing—for planned offshore fossil fuel projects.
• Shifting public and private capital to renewable energy, including offshore wind and solar.
• Ensuring a just transition that includes full decommissioning of abandoned offshore infrastructure and stakeholder inclusion.
• Undertaking habitat restoration where damage from fossil fuel operations has already occurred.
• Strengthening global legal frameworks, including support for treaties like the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to prevent new coastal and offshore oil expansion.

“It’s time for global leaders to take bold, enforceable actions,” said Miller. “If the UN Ocean Conference wants to be taken seriously, it must directly address the growing threat of fossil fuel industrialization on coastlines and oceans.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Vizhinjam Port—Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 May 2025, as India’s first deep-water container transshipment hub—has been criticized for displacing fishers and disrupting the sensitive ocean biodiversity. Credit: Aishwarya Bajpai/IPS

By Aishwarya Bajpai
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, Jun 8 2025 (IPS)

As the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) approaches, bringing renewed attention to SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and the rights of ocean-dependent communities, India’s Vizhinjam coast highlights the environmental injustice and human cost of unchecked coastal development.

Kerala’s traditional fishworkers—communities historically rooted to the sea—are now facing irreversible disruption due to the controversial Vizhinjam Port project.

Despite repeated rejections by multiple expert appraisal committees over severe environmental concerns, the Vizhinjam Port—Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 May 2025, as India’s first deep-water container transshipment hub—was approved under questionable circumstances.

Experts have raised serious concerns about the compromised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the Vizhinjam Port, calling it a “cut-copy-paste” job lifted from unrelated projects. The port’s viability studies were manipulated to overlook ecological threats and suppress dissenting community voices.

According to Vijayan M.J., Director of the Participatory Action Research Coalition—India, “The first viability study by Ernst & Young clearly said the port was not feasible—environmentally or economically. So did the second. But both were dismissed, and a third study was commissioned with the clear expectation that it would declare the project viable. They didn’t even put the E&Y logo on the final report—just the names of the two researchers. That tells you something.”

Breaking the Coast: Ecological Damage and Fisher Exclusion

In spite of these warnings, the Vizhinjam Port project moved forward in a coastal region already burdened by extensive human intervention. As of 2022, Kerala’s 590-kilometer coastline hosted a major port at Kochi and intermediate ports in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kozhikode, and Thalassery. The shoreline was further segmented by 25 fishing harbors, multiple breakwaters, and 106 groynes. Nearly 310 kilometers of this coastline had already been transformed into artificial stretches.

These cumulative constructions had already disrupted the natural rhythms of the coast, causing severe erosion in some areas and sediment build-up in others—ultimately leading to the loss of accessible beaches. To mitigate these impacts, the state installed additional seawalls and groynes, which only further interfered with the marine ecosystem and traditional fishing practices.

For Kerala’s fishworkers, this pattern of exclusion and ecological damage is not new.

The situation intensified with the onset of Vizhinjam Port’s construction, when hundreds of local fishers were abruptly informed that they could no longer fish near their home shores due to the imposition of shipping lanes and designated no-fishing zones.

This pattern of exclusion deepened when the state government handed over large portions of the Thiruvananthapuram coast, including Vizhinjam, to the Adani Group.

Amid rising protests in places like Perumathura and Muthalappozhi—where heavy siltation and repeated fisher deaths had triggered alarm—the government assured that Adani’s involvement would provide solutions, including constructing embankments and regularly dredging the estuary to keep it navigable. However, these promises quickly fell apart.

As Vipin Das, a fishworker from Kerala, recalls, “Adani took over the entire beach and built an office complex. Now, even stepping onto the shore requires his office’s permission.”

According to local accounts, the company’s first move was to dismantle the southern embankment to allow barge access to the port. This action disrupted natural sediment flows and caused a severe blockage of the estuary. “When floodwaters began threatening nearby homes, a JCB was rushed in to reopen the embankment—but it was already too late,” Vipin adds. “Adani’s entry didn’t solve anything—it only worsened the crisis and destroyed our coastline.”

From Biodiversity Hotspot to Danger Zone

Once a biodiversity hotspot, Vizhinjam’s marine ecosystem boasted 12 reef systems and one of the world’s 20 rare ‘wedge banks’—a critical oceanic zone near Kanyakumari where hundreds of fish species fed and reproduced. Fishers remember it as a “harbor of procreation,” teeming with over 200 varieties of fish and more than 60 aquatic species.

However, intense dredging, altered wave patterns, and ongoing port operations have severely damaged this fragile marine ecosystem. In 2020, Kerala recorded a 15 percent decline in fish catch, and the numbers have continued to fall in the years since—threatening both biodiversity and the livelihoods that depend on it.

The state’s response has been displacement disguised as compensation, offering ₹10 lakh (USD 12,000) as a one-time payment to those willing to leave their homes instead of addressing systemic erosion and disaster risks, said Vijayan.

The situation further took a catastrophic turn on May 24, 2025, when a massive shipwreck occurred off the Vizhinjam coast.

While authorities framed it as an isolated incident, environmentalists and coastal communities argue it was a disaster waiting to happen—fueled by years of unregulated dredging and reckless port expansion.

“The sea is poisoned; people are saying not to eat fish,” shared Vipin. “But it’s not just rumors—there are chemicals, plastics, and fuel. And we, who had nothing to do with this, are the first to suffer.”

With livelihoods already battered by monsoon storms and port restrictions, fishers now face public panic, polluted waters, and a poisoned food chain. “This isn’t just an accident—it’s a man-made disaster,” Vipin added. “The state must act swiftly to hold the company accountable and compensate the coastal communities who are paying the highest price.”

However, earlier this year Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. told the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre that  “Environment Clearance accorded to Vizhinjam Port has stood the test of legal scrutiny, having gone through litigation before the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi.”

It continued, “The Port operations and fishing/ancillary activities coexist all over the world and both activities are continuing as per the rules and regulations prevailing in the democratic country of India. It may also be noted that Vizhinjam port construction has been carried out with best practices, including stakeholder engagement, taking the community into confidence.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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How social media is pushing back against the still common idea that African societies never had a knowledge system.

How social media is pushing back against the still common idea that African societies never had a knowledge system.

How social media is pushing back against the still common idea that African societies never had a knowledge system.

The blaze broke out a day after protests over plans to oust former speaker Jonathan Fonati Koffa.