Anaïs Rémont

What’s the work that you do?

My background is in international environmental law. I am funded by the Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future project, led by a consortium of Australian Universities and collaborating with other universities around the world. I am at the very beginning of my PhD journey and my research question needs to be defined further. The main idea is to work on interconnections between international ocean governance and climate change issues, considering the concept of ocean commons. I want to explore interactions and synergies between legal regimes that protect the ocean, with a specific focus on the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. It includes the Antarctic Treaty System, the Rio Conventions on biodiversity and climate and finally the more recent one, the Treaty on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction. I am particularly interested in the most efficient level of governance to have better and the most dynamic implementation of these conventions.

What keeps you going?

I strongly believe that we definitly need to build bridges between decision-makers and researchers. Since the establishment of the IPCC and more recently the IPBES, we know that anthropogenic pressures in wild spaces like Antarctica and the high seas and on biodiversity in a broader sense due to climate change threats are increasing at an alarming rate. At the end of the day, it touches on the most basic fundamental right of each creature on this planet: the right to live a life with respect and dignity, reaching for happiness. This is not an abstract concept but a very concrete one, implying the right to a healthy environment. Now is the time to change the world dynamics and move towards a fairer world while respecting the principles of ecological solidarity, equity and inter-generational justice to preserve the viability of the world not only for our generation but also for the coming ones!

What’s your message to the world?

You are doing your best in your own unique way, so be gentle with yourself.