Sea Level Rise and the Law of the Sea

Abstract

Abstract Climate change-induced sea level rise will result in the loss of baselines from which maritime zones are established, the partial or complete inundation of islands, and concomitant loss of valuable maritime entitlements. The consequences sea level rise on baselines, insular features, and maritime entitlements, in many ways, straddle the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Developments concerning sea level rise at the informal level of lawmaking are increasing. They include the 2013 ‘Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts’ under the UNFCCC; the initiative by small island developing states on the Accelerated Modalities of Action Pathway; studies by Committees of the International Law Association; and now the work of the International Law Commission on Sea level rise in relation to international law. This chapter will analyse the key contributions of informal lawmaking in the progressive development of international law to meet the challenges of sea level rise.