A New Look at International Law and Statehood: Pacific Island Countries Seek Legal Protections as Climate Change Threatens Statehood Status
The pace at which Earth’s climate is changing has fueled concerns about the future of our world, thus prompting world leaders to come together to create changes that they hope will slow down the already-damaging effects we are seeing.[1] However, not all of the problems humans are facing from climate change have solutions yet.[2] In fact, leaders of many Pacific Island countries are reaching out to the United Nations (UN) and the international community in general in hopes of facilitating discussions and implementing solutions regarding a very dire situation – the disappearance of their island nations due to rising seas.[3] Citizens on these islands are facing physical destruction of their land from worsening storms and eroding shores.[4] If these physical islands become uninhabitable or even vanish outright, what happens to the nationalities of its citizens and the protections that they receive for being “states” under international law?[5]
Statehood recognition is crucial if a nation hopes to reap the benefits of international law.[6] For example, a state under international law has the capacity to “enter into binding international agreements, be[] subject to rights and obligations under international law, and [has] the ability to make claims before international or national courts. It also includes the ability to become a member of the United Nations and other international organizations.”[7] According to the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States – a treaty that describes the requirements for statehood – a state should have (1) a permanent population, (2) a defined territory, (3) government, and (4) the capacity to enter into relations with other states.[8] A 2021 World Bank report on the legal implications of rising sea levels on pacific islands notes that “cessation of statehood in the context of sea level rise is unprecedented and is a notion which traditional international law has never had to contemplate...[and] has been subject to an extensive ongoing debate among scholars.”[9]
One facet of the debate involves different interpretations of the wording in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as it pertains to determining the baseline of a country’s territory.[10] One interpretation fixes these measurements and the other would allow for the shifting of measurements as coastlines shift.[11] This brings into question not only the ability of nations to define their territory, but also their ability to claim rights over maritime territory that was once a part of the land their citizens lived on.[12]
Although these nations, particularly pacific islands, have contributed very little to climate change, they are already suffering the consequences.[13] Coastal communities in Fiji have been relocated after being hit by Cyclone Winston in 2016, there has been complete loss of reef islands, and several smaller islands in the Pacific archipelago of the Solomon Islands have completely vanished.[14] In response, these island nations are advocating for changes in international law that will protect them from the many issues they face due to climate change.[15] In a recent UN General Assembly meeting, many pushed for protections for sovereignty as these island nations lose territory and called on other countries to help by financing adaption programs and initiatives like the Rising Nations Heritage Project.[16] The Rising Nations Initiative calls for a “global settlement that guarantees their nation states a permanent existence beyond the inhabitable lifetime” of their homes, thus preserving their sovereignty, rights, culture, and heritage.[17] Some Pacific Island countries are also taking matters into their own hands.[18] The Pacific Islands Forum, a body of 18 pacific island member countries and territories, declared that their maritime boundaries “will be fixed irrespective of changes to the size or shape of the islands in the future.”[19] Others have challenged this contentious approach with alternative protections.[20] For example, a 2022 report established under the International Law Commission proposed a “presumption of continuity of statehood and maintaining some form of international legal personality without a territory.”[21]
Despite the many nations that have brought attention to this dire situation, it is not yet clear how or when the international community will come to a consensus on how to handle the effects of climate change on Pacific Island countries and their statehood status. World leaders will have to take another look at current international law and decide the best ways to protect the citizens of these island nations once their land is uninhabitable or altogether extinguished, but what remains immediately clear is that nations all across the world must act fast.
Madeline Barrett is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVI.
[1] See Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, Amid Rising Seas, Island Nations Push for Legal Protection, PBS (Sept. 30, 2022, 8:53 PM), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/amid-rising-seas-island-nations-push-for-legal-protection.
[2] See Jackson, supra note 1; see also On the Frontlines of Climate Change, Small Island States Can Lead in Resilience, World Bank Group (Apr. 11, 2022), https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2022/04/11/on-the-frontlines-of-climate-change-small-island-states-can-lead-in-resilience [hereinafter On the Frontlines].
[3] See Jackson, supra note 1; Nemat Sadat, Small Islands, Rising Seas, United Nations Chronicle, https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/small-islands-rising-seas (last visited Feb. 5, 2023).
[4] See On the Frontlines, supra note 2.
[5] See Sadat, supra note 3.
[6] See David Freestone & Duyga Çiçek, Legal Dimension of Sea Level Rise: Pacific Perspectives 19 (2021), https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/519021624599026730/pdf/Legal-Dimensions-of-Sea-Level-Rise-Pacific-Perspectives.pdf.
[7] See id.
[8] See id. at 20.
[9] See id. at 21.
[10] See Christina Leb, Sea Level Rise: Legal Implication for Island States, World Bank Blogs (Oct. 5, 2021), https://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/sea-level-rise-legal-implications-island-states.
[11] See id.
[12] See id.
[13] See Jackson, see also supra note 1 (According to Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano, Pacific Island nations have contributed less than 0.03 percent of the world’s total emissions).
[14] See id.
[15] See id.
[16] See id.; see also Rising Nations Initiative, Global Centre for Climate Mobility, https://climatemobility.org/rising-nations-initiative (last visited Feb. 5, 2023).
[17] Rising Nations Initiative, supra note 16.
[18] See Jackson, supra note 1.
[19] See Jackson, supra note 1; Pacific Islands Forum, Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the Face of Climate Change-Related Sea-Level Rise 2-3 (2021), https://www.forumsec.org/2021/08/11/declaration-on-preserving-maritime-zones-in-the-face-of-climate-change-related-sea-level-rise/.
[20] See Jackson, supra note 1.
[21] See Jackson, supra note 1.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.