International Law as an Adaptation Measure to Sea-level Rise and Its Impacts on Islands and Offshore Features

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-439
Author(s):  
Nilüfer Oral
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Current State ◽  
Legal Questions ◽  
International Climate

AbstractClimate change-induced sea-level rise will result in the partial or complete inundation of low-lying coastal areas and insular features. The consequences of this include the loss of baselines from which maritime zones are established. The loss of baselines raises a number of legal questions, in particular concerning the legal status of maritime entitlements and in some cases the potential loss of statehood. Solutions proposed include maintaining existing baselines or outer limits of maritime zones, or the construction de novo of artificial islands. This article examines the current state of international law under the international climate-change regime and the law of the sea in relation to adaptation and adaptive measures, such as maintaining of baselines, island fortification and the construction of artificial islands. In addition, the article explores the question as to whether measures such as maintaining baselines would constitute adaptive measures under the existing climate-change regime.

Islands Awash Amidst Rising Seas: Sea Level Rise and Insular Status under the Law of the Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Schofield ◽  
David Freestone
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South China Sea ◽  
International Law ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
State Practice ◽  
The Face

Abstract This article considers the potential impacts of sea level rise on maritime zones with particular reference to impacts on islands. It considers the sea level rise predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; it outlines the existing legal framework for coastal baselines and insular features established by the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. It highlights the work of the International Law Association Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise, which in its 2018 report had identified the development of a body of State practice among the States and Territories of the South Pacific regarding the maintenance of existing maritime zone claims in the face of sea level rise. That practice is considered, together with the implications of the 2016 Tribunal Award on the South China Sea case on maritime zone claims based on islands.

Singapore

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 836-846
Author(s):  
Millicent McCreath
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
National University ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Law

Abstract This article summarises and discusses the main issues addressed at the conference hosted by the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore in March 2018 on Climate Change and the Law of the Sea: Adapting the Law of the Sea to Address the Challenges of Climate Change. The conference covered topics including the status and entitlement of offshore features, impacts of sea-level rise on baselines, the content of the LOSC climate change obligations, climate change dispute settlement under the LOSC, and possible ways to develop or adapt the LOSC to address the challenges of climate change.

The Impact of Climate Change on States

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 115-132
Author(s):  
Łukasz Kułaga
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Fundamental Change ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The increase in sea levels, as a result of climate change in territorial aspect will have a potential impact on two major issues – maritime zones and land territory. The latter goes into the heart of the theory of the state in international law as it requires us to confront the problem of complete and permanent disappearance of a State territory. When studying these processes, one should take into account the fundamental lack of appropriate precedents and analogies in international law, especially in the context of the extinction of the state, which could be used for guidance in this respect. The article analyses sea level rise impact on baselines and agreed maritime boundaries (in particular taking into account fundamental change of circumstances rule). Furthermore, the issue of submergence of the entire territory of a State is discussed taking into account the presumption of statehood, past examples of extinction of states and the importance of recognition in this respect.

Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 133-157
Author(s):  
Vladyslav Lanovoy ◽  
Sally O’Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Legal Fiction ◽  
Temporary Solution ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
And Sea Level

Abstract This article examines the challenges that climate change and sea-level rise pose to certain key aspects of the law of the sea. Sea-level rise is likely to impact maritime baselines, the qualification of maritime features and the entitlements they generate, and ultimately the stability of maritime boundaries, which are critical for the peaceful co-existence of sovereign States. This article examines whether some of the relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea can accommodate a liberal interpretation so as to provide some, even if incomplete, answers to the challenges posed by sea-level rise to the law of the sea regime. It is argued that the legal fiction of permanency that underpins key elements of this legal regime, and thus ignores future physical changes to coastlines, is the most appropriate temporary solution, unless and until new rules are agreed by States to deal comprehensively with sea-level rise.

The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Maritime Limits: A Grotian Moment in the Law of the Sea?

Grotiana ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-303
Author(s):  
Snjólaug Árnadóttir
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
The Law ◽  
Coastal Features ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The legal order of the oceans centres on coastal geography which is undergoing unprecedented changes. Claims to national jurisdiction are based on distance from the coast and are only enforceable as long as they are consistent with international law. Consequently, sea level rise and submergence of coastal features can affect the location and enforceability of unilateral maritime limits and bilateral boundaries. Some States wish to maintain previously established entitlements around submerged territory but the only way to prevent fluctuations of unilateral limits is through artificial conservation of coastlines. Therefore, a change, in either the location of maritime entitlements or rules governing such entitlements, is inevitable. It has been proposed that maritime limits should be frozen to ensure opposability as coastlines change. That would enable States to exercise sovereignty and sovereign rights over areas that have no anchor in coastal territory, arguably causing a departure from the land dominates the sea principle and a Grotian Moment in the law of the sea. However, this article concludes that it is unlikely that proposals to freeze maritime limits will change the law of the sea and that the proposals may in fact serve to deter another paradigm shift, one that involves a departure from the principle of stable boundaries.

Introductory Remarks by Patrícia Galvão Teles

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 385-385
Author(s):  
Patrícia Galvão Teles
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Island States ◽  
Legal Questions ◽  
Small Island States ◽  
The Law

Sea-level rise is accelerating globally. Small island states are particularly affected by sea-level rise, as are other coastal states. In light of this situation, important legal questions arise in relation to the law of the sea.

Remarks by Nilüfer Oral

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 393-396
Author(s):  
Nilüfer Oral
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Study Group ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

I would like to begin by first acknowledging and thanking Bogdan Aurescu, my Co-chair and co-author of the International Law Commission (ILC) Study Group on Sea-Level Rise First Issues Paper on the law of the sea whose contribution is very much part of this presentation.

The Northern Sea Route and the Seaward Extension of Uti Possidetis (Juris)

2014 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 476-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Northern Sea Route ◽  
Human Rights Abuse ◽  
High Seas

Once considered impassable due to icebound conditions of the High Arctic, receding ice attributed to climate change and projections of ice-free polar seasons in coming decades may soon make the Northeast Passage a commercially viable conduit for seafaring traffic. A major stretch of this waterway atop Russia, straddling Eurasia from Providence Bay to Murmansk, passes through important geographic bottlenecks that scantily ever have been traversed by non-Russian ships, until most recently. This stretch, referred to as the Northern Sea Route, is claimed by Russia as historic waters, making its use subject to Russia’s complete sovereign decisions. The United States regards the Route as an international strait connecting two high seas, making transit free and open to all ships, military or commercial, in accordance with traditional High Seas freedoms and a newer right of transit passage. This article considers the prospect of a coming clash in the waters of the High Arctic over the legal status of the Northern Sea Route. Through analogous application of the Roman law principle of uti possidetis juris, a principle adapted to international law, but with serious criticism, this article argues that Russia’s claim of sovereign control over the Route finds legal support but is pragmatically and strategically weak. Existing lacunae in the governing international law of the sea nevertheless make consideration of the principle valuable, particularly components of the principle that emphasise factual circumstances, called effectivités, which support Russia’s claim. The creeping pelagic significance of this principle, historically tethered to terrestrial border delimitations and more recently to factual patterns involving gross human rights abuse, is affirmed, notwithstanding doctrinal criticisms about its topical application.

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