Faith-based coalitions at COP17 push for ocean justice: how colonial finance and climate debt fuel marine collapse
Original framing: “Anglicans will advocate to protect oceans as 'lungs of the Earth' at the United Nations Biodiversity COP17” — bing news
The Anglican delegation’s call for ocean justice ignores Indigenous stewardship models like **Māori *kaitiakitanga* (guardianship)** or **Inuit *Inuit Qaggialuk* (ocean management principles)**, which predate colonial conservation by centuries. These systems operate on relational ethics—where humans are part of the ocean’s ecosystem, not its managers—yet are excluded from COP negotiations. For example, the **2019 Pacific Islands Forum** recognized *vaka* (traditional canoe) routes as cultural heritage, but such frameworks are absent from UN biodiversity talks. The Anglican Church’s historical role in suppressing Indigenous rights (e.g., resisting Māori land claims in New Zealand) further undermines its moral authority on ocean justice.
The Anglican delegation’s push for ocean justice at COP17 reveals a **fundamental tension between moral appeals and structural power**.
While their framing of oceans as 'lungs of the Earth' underscores ecological urgency, it obscures the **colonial legacies** of the Anglican Communion itself—from Pacific Island dispossession to modern financial systems that perpetuate marine exploitation. The solution lies not in incremental 'just finance' but in **radical epistemic decolonization**: centering Indigenous stewardship models like *kaitiakitanga*, auditing faith institutions’ complicity in fossil fuel economies, and leveraging artistic-spiritual traditions to disrupt COP’s technocratic dominance. Historical precedents—such as the **Solomon Islands Truth Commission** or **Belize’s debt swaps**—show that justice requires **binding legal shifts**, not symbolic reparations. The trickster here is **systemic inertia**, masquerading as moral progress, and the only antidote is **marginalized voices**—from Pacific poets to West African fishers—demanding a seat at the table where ocean governance is decided.