The topic is feasible because the work of the Study Group will be able to identify
areas ripe for possible codification and progressive development of international law
and where there are gaps. At the same time, the aspects to be examined have a high
degree of concreteness. Furthermore, this topic reflects new developments in international law and pressing concerns of the international community as a whole.
18
7 Conclusion
One of the most important and pressing current global challenges to the Law of the
Sea is the issue of climate change and its adverse effects, namely those arising from
rising sea-levels. This phenomenon of sea-level rise also presents challenges to other
areas of International Law such as those related to statehood and the protection of
persons affected by sea-level rise. Sea-level rise as a result of climate change is
accelerating around the world and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
predicts that the average global sea-level could rise by up to a metre by 2100.
Small island States, particularly low-lying ones, are at the front lines of sea-level
rise. The impacts on communities are more varied and complex than is often
assumed. Sea-level rise causes salinization which threatens crops and livelihoods,
coastal erosion results in more destructive storm surges and natural disasters, and
rising sea-levels will submerge whole atolls. While low-lying islands are already
feeling some of these impacts, in the coming years more than 70 States are likely to
be directly impacted by sea-level rise, including continental States with coastal areas.
While sea-level rise poses significant development, economic and environmental
challenges, the phenomenon also involves complex questions in International Law,
such as:
– What are the legal implications of sea-level rise upon baselines and therefore
maritime zones that have been delimitated from those baselines?
– What are the consequences for statehood under International Law should a
territory of a State disappear? Or if an island becomes uninhabitable?
– What protection do persons directly affected by sea-level rise enjoy under
international law?
The need to analyse these questions from a legal point of view and to discuss
possible solutions has thus led the ILC to decide including the topic “Sea-level rise in
relation to International Law” in its Long-Term Programme of Work in 2018 and to
move it rapidly to its active agenda in 2019. It is proposed that the final outcome of
the work of the ILC be a Final Report of the Study Group on “Sea-Level Rise in
relation to International Law”, accompanied by a set of Conclusions of the work of
the Study Group. After the presentation of the Final Report of the Study Group, it
18 ILC, Report on the Work of the Seventieth Session (2018), “Sea-Level Rise in relation to
International Law” (Annex B).
8 Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law: A New Topic for the United. . .
155
areas ripe for possible codification and progressive development of international law
and where there are gaps. At the same time, the aspects to be examined have a high
degree of concreteness. Furthermore, this topic reflects new developments in international law and pressing concerns of the international community as a whole.
18
7 Conclusion
One of the most important and pressing current global challenges to the Law of the
Sea is the issue of climate change and its adverse effects, namely those arising from
rising sea-levels. This phenomenon of sea-level rise also presents challenges to other
areas of International Law such as those related to statehood and the protection of
persons affected by sea-level rise. Sea-level rise as a result of climate change is
accelerating around the world and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
predicts that the average global sea-level could rise by up to a metre by 2100.
Small island States, particularly low-lying ones, are at the front lines of sea-level
rise. The impacts on communities are more varied and complex than is often
assumed. Sea-level rise causes salinization which threatens crops and livelihoods,
coastal erosion results in more destructive storm surges and natural disasters, and
rising sea-levels will submerge whole atolls. While low-lying islands are already
feeling some of these impacts, in the coming years more than 70 States are likely to
be directly impacted by sea-level rise, including continental States with coastal areas.
While sea-level rise poses significant development, economic and environmental
challenges, the phenomenon also involves complex questions in International Law,
such as:
– What are the legal implications of sea-level rise upon baselines and therefore
maritime zones that have been delimitated from those baselines?
– What are the consequences for statehood under International Law should a
territory of a State disappear? Or if an island becomes uninhabitable?
– What protection do persons directly affected by sea-level rise enjoy under
international law?
The need to analyse these questions from a legal point of view and to discuss
possible solutions has thus led the ILC to decide including the topic “Sea-level rise in
relation to International Law” in its Long-Term Programme of Work in 2018 and to
move it rapidly to its active agenda in 2019. It is proposed that the final outcome of
the work of the ILC be a Final Report of the Study Group on “Sea-Level Rise in
relation to International Law”, accompanied by a set of Conclusions of the work of
the Study Group. After the presentation of the Final Report of the Study Group, it
18 ILC, Report on the Work of the Seventieth Session (2018), “Sea-Level Rise in relation to
International Law” (Annex B).
8 Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law: A New Topic for the United. . .
155