Small Island States And International Law

Several low-lying atoll island states are at risk of losing their entire territory due to climate change-induced sea level rise. In Disappearing Island States in International Law, Jenny Grote Stoutenburg analyzes the international legal implications of this unprecedented situation.

"What happens under international law if a state perishes due to rising sea levels without a successor state being created? Will the state cease to exist? What would this mean for its population? Have international law and globalization progressed enough to protect the people thus affected, or does international law still depend on the territorial state when it comes to protecting entire populations? Exploring these issues, this book provides answers to these pressing questions. Focusing on small island states as actors in the international community, it evaluates the challenges that the state as a subject of international law faces in general from globalization and humanization, and what this means for small island states threatened by rising seas. Highlighting the experience of the indigenous peoples of small island states as collectives, and to the individuals living in these states, the book addresses fundamental questions of general state theory and international law, drawing on an extensive body of source material. As rising sea levels present an increasingly pressing threat to small island states, this book highlights the importance of international protection of the individual and the capacity of international organizations to act within existing international law. It identifies pressing problems where immediate action is required and argues that, in future, the responsibility for protecting individuals could shift to the international community, if a sinking island state can no longer protect its population on its own"--

What happens under international law if a state perishes due to rising sea levels without a successor state being created? Will the state cease to exist? What would this mean for its population? Have international law and globalization progressed enough to protect the people thus affected, or does international law still depend on the territorial state when it comes to protecting entire populations? Exploring these issues, this book provides answers to these pressing questions. Focusing on small island states as actors in the international community, it evaluates the challenges that the state as a subject of international law faces in general from globalization and humanization, and what this means for small island states threatened by rising seas. Highlighting the experience of the indigenous peoples of small island states as collectives, and to the individuals living in these states, the book addresses fundamental questions of general state theory and international law, drawing on an extensive body of source material. As rising sea levels present an increasingly pressing threat to small island states, this book highlights the importance of international protection of the individual and the capacity of international organizations to act within existing international law. It identifies pressing problems where immediate action is required and argues that, in future, the responsibility for protecting individuals could shift to the international community, if a sinking island state can no longer protect its population on its own.

Atoll Island States exist on top of what is perceived to be one of the planet's most vulnerable ecosystems: atolls. It has been predicted that an increase in the pace of sea level rise brought about by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will cause them to disappear, forcing their inhabitants to migrate. The present book represents a multidisciplinary legal and engineering perspective on this problem, challenging some common misconceptions regarding atolls and their vulnerability to sea-level rise. Coral islands have survived past changes in sea levels, and it is the survival of coral reefs what will be crucial for their continued existence. These islands are important for their inhabitants as they represent not only their ancestral agricultural lands and heritage, but also a source of revenue through the exploitation of the maritime areas associated with them. However, even if faced with extreme climate change, it could theoretically be possible for the richer Atoll Island States to engineer ways to prevent their main islands from disappearing, though sadly not all will have the required financial resources to do so. As islands become progressively uninhabitable their residents will be forced to settle in foreign lands, and could become stateless if the Atoll Island State ceases to be recognized as a sovereign country. However, rather than tackling this problem by entering into lengthy negotiations over new treaties, more practical solutions, encompassing bilateral negotiations or the possibility of acquiring small new territories, should be explored. This would make it possible for Atoll Island States in the future to keep some sort of international sovereign personality, which could benefit the descendents of its present day inhabitants.

This book addresses legal issues of rising seas endangering the habitability and existence of island nations in the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Small Island Developing States are often depicted as being among the most vulnerable of all places to the effects of climate change, and they are a cause c?l?bre of many involved in climate science, politics and the media. Yet while small island developing states are much talked about, the production of both scientific knowledge and policies to protect the rights of these nations and their people has been remarkably slow.This book is the first to apply a critical approach to climate change science and policy processes in the South Pacific region. It shows how groups within politically and scientifically powerful countries appropriate the issue of island vulnerability in ways that do not do justice to the lives of island people. It argues that the ways in which islands and their inhabitants are represented in climate science and politics seldom leads to meaningful responses to assist them to adapt to climate change. Throughout, the authors focus on the hitherto largely ignored social impacts of climate change, and demonstrate that adaptation and mitigation policies cannot be effective without understanding the social systems and values of island societies.

This book explores how vulnerable and resilient communities from SIDS are affected by climate change; proposes and, where possible, evaluates adaptation activities; identifies factors capable of enhancing or inhibiting SIDS people’s long-term ability to deal with climate change; and critiques the discourses, vocabularies, and constructions around SIDS dealing with climate change. The contributions, written by well-established scholars, as well as emerging authors and practitioners, in the field, include conceptual papers, coherent methodological approaches, and case studies from the communities based in the Caribbean Sea and the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. In their introduction, the editors contextualise the book within the current literature. They emphasise the importance of stronger links between climate change science and policy in SIDS, both to increase effectiveness of policy and also boost scholarly enquiry in the context of whose communities are often excluded by mainstream research. This book is timely and appropriate, given the recent commission by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of a Special Report that aims at addressing vulnerabilities, “especially in islands and coastal areas, as well as the adaptation and policy development opportunities” following the Paris Agreement. Coupled with this, there is also the need to support the policy community with further scientific evidence on climate change–related issues in SIDS, accompanying the first years of implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This issue contains the final version of the 2018 Report of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise, as well as the related ILA Resolutions adopted by the ILA at its 78th Biennial Conference, held in Sydney, Australia, 19–24 August 2018.