DAWN Feminist

14/06/2026

🌊 The celebrations may be over, but our waters remain under siege. The Pacific Ocean is increasingly being carved up by powerful states and transformed into a high-seas corridor for military expansion and nuclear-powered vessels.

Through the AUKUS pact, Western militaries are deploying nuclear-powered and potentially nuclear-armed submarines, alongside autonomous drones, into the Pacific, escalating geopolitical tensions and threatening the collective security of Pacific Island communities.

Operating under a doctrine of "strategic ambiguity," this growing military presence undermines the spirit of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty and deepens the hyper-militarisation of our ocean.

As we expose in our DAWN Policy Brief, ‘Hyper-Militarisation of the Pacific Ocean’: “Today the ocean itself is viewed as a zero-sum resource where great power rivalry and power projection by the military takes place.”

We must confront this dangerous trajectory. DAWN stands with Pacific networks to demand total naval disarmament and the protection of the ocean as a zone of peace! 🛑✊🏽

📖 Read the Policy Brief at www.dawnfeminist.org

11/06/2026

⚠️ Corporate profit and geopolitical rivalry are driving a dangerous new push for deep-sea mining.

The Metals Company (TMC) is attempting to bypass international processes and pursue licenses under US domestic law, while actively promoting seabed minerals as a strategic source of ‘defence critical minerals’ for US military and security supply chains.

While the industry tries to justify its actions, supplying the military's arms build-up through deep-sea mining directly violates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This convention mandates that the ocean floor must be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.

DAWN stands in fierce solidarity with Pacific Island networks to reject this colonial resource grab. We call on member states of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to blacklist TMC and urgently support a global moratorium on deep-sea mining! 🚫🌊

📖 Read our full analysis in the Policy Brief, ‘Peace Under-Sea Siege: How ‘defence’ critical minerals could pull the trigger to mine the ocean floor?’: bit.ly/PeaceUnderSiege1

10/06/2026

Feminist researcher and DAWN Executive Committee member Maureen Penjueli joined the State of the Pacific Ocean Convening session on security and militarisation. The panel explored the increasing role of security priorities and militarisation in shaping ocean governance across the Pacific, and their implications for Pacific peoples, sovereignty, and ocean stewardship.

Learn more about the shifting narratives driving the rush to mine the deep seabed. Our Policy Brief Series, ‘Peace Under-Sea Siege', reveals how the push for deep-sea mining is increasingly tied to geopolitical competition, military supply chains, and the race by powerful states to secure so-called defence ‘critical minerals’.

Read more at www.dawnfeminist.org

10/06/2026

09/06/2026

08/06/2026

Feminist researcher and DAWN Executive Committee member Claire Slatter remarks during the State of the Pacific Ocean Convening in Suva, Fiji, at

Learn more about the shifting narratives driving the rush to mine the deep seabed. Our Policy Brief Series, ‘Peace Under-Sea Siege', reveals how the push for deep-sea mining is increasingly tied to geopolitical competition, military supply chains, and the race by powerful states to secure so-called defence ‘critical minerals’.

Read more about www.dawnfeminist.org

Proceeding with seabed mining without fully understanding the risks can cause irreversible damage and could push the planet toward a critical tipping point.



PIANGO Pacific 2030 Pasifika Communities University Pacific Islands Climate Action Network - PICAN WWF Pacific Pacific Conference of ChurchesDAWN Feminist

08/06/2026

A reminder from Reverend Professor Upolu Luma Vaai that land and ocean are deeply connected and must be honoured together.



Pacific Conference of Churches Pacific Islands Climate Action Network - PICAN Pasifika Communities University DAWN Feminist WWF Pacific PIANGO Pacific 2030

07/06/2026

🌊 Today is World Oceans Day, but there is no time to celebrate while our oceans are under siege ☢️

From the ocean surface to the abyssal depths, powerful states and corporations are advancing new forms of control over marine spaces and resources. The growing push for "defence critical minerals" risks turning the deep seabed into a new frontier for military competition and resource extraction.

In DAWN's latest three-part policy brief series, Peace Under-Sea Siege, we connect the dots between ocean militarisation and deep-sea mining.

In the first brief, we denounce the abandonment of naval disarmament and the weaponisation of marine life. In the second, we expose how rogue venture capital startups and military empires are attempting to bypass international law. In the third one, coming up this Oceans Week, we will explore issues related to island chains in the Pacific.

DAWN stands united with Pacific Island networks to demand total naval disarmament and an absolute, structural ban on deep-sea mining. The deep seabed is the common heritage of humanity, not a new frontier for militarisation, corporate speculation, or resource extraction.

Swipe to understand how hyper-militarisation and deep-sea extractivism are inextricably linked, and read our full Policy Brief Series at www.dawnfeminist.org 🔗

05/06/2026

First they told us deep-sea mining was necessary for the ‘green transition’. Now, they’re telling us it’s needed for ‘national security’ and military defence 💥🌊

As approaches, DAWN is exposing the shifting narratives driving the rush to mine the deep seabed. Our Policy Brief, ‘Peace Under-Sea Siege: How ‘defence’ critical minerals could pull the trigger to mine the ocean floor?’, reveals how the push for deep sea mining is increasingly tied to geopolitical competition, military supply chains, and the race by powerful states to secure so-called defence ‘critical minerals’.

This comes despite growing evidence that deep-sea mining could cause irreversible damage to ocean systems, unresolved international regulations, and mounting doubts about whether these minerals are even needed for the energy transition. Forty-one countries now support a pause, ban, or moratorium on deep-sea mining, while major corporations, financial institutions, and insurers are refusing to back the industry.

The deep seabed is the common heritage of humanity — not a new frontier for militarisation, corporate speculation, or resource extraction.

✊🏽🌊 We demand a TOTAL BAN on Deep Sea Mining. Our oceans need protection, not exploitation!
Read our analysis at bit.ly/PeaceUnderSiege1 📖