Abstract
While some still debate whether or not climate change is a reality, one of its impacts, sea level rise, is factual. The cause and the rate of sea level rise might have been inconclusive but its impacts have been clearly felt. Sea level rise can also change the legal status of insular features (small islands/rocks and low tide elevation) that will also affect their capacity in making maritime claim. For an archipelagic State like Indonesia, small outer islands/rocks or low-tide elevation are important for location of basepoints forming the entire system of archipelagic baselines. This paper investigates the impact of sea level rise to the change of baselines and maritime limits a coastal state may claim. On the other hand, there is a need to have fixed maritime limits for better management and to balance rights and duties of coastal to the ocean. This paper provides options on how Indonesia as a coastal and archipelagic State can fix their baselines and or maritime limits in the face of coastal instability due to sea level rise as a consequence of climate change.
Highlights
In early 2007, Indonesia’s Minister of Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, stated that around 2,000 islands of Indonesia were about to sink in 2030.2 Approaching the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) di Bali, he made a similar statement was even though without stating any specific number.3 Even though the statement was not adequately supported by primary data, Witoelar’s statement certainly sparked debate in media up until mid 2008
Sea level rise can change the legal status of insular features that will affect their capacity in making maritime claim
This paper investigates the impact of sea level rise to the change of baselines and maritime limits a coastal state may claim
Summary
In early 2007, Indonesia’s Minister of Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, stated that around 2,000 islands of Indonesia were about to sink in 2030.2 Approaching the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) di Bali, he made a similar statement was even though without stating any specific number. Even though the statement was not adequately supported by primary data, Witoelar’s statement certainly sparked debate in media up until mid 2008. An approximate sea level rise of 1 meter may sink land area inhibited by around 60 million people (Ananthaswamy, 2009: 30-31) Another analysis reveals that around 60% of Indonesian population live in coastal area.. Sea level rise certainly has seaward impact, which concerns the size of maritime area a coastal state is entitled to pursuant to the international law of the sea. This paper discuss the impact of sea level rise as the consequence of climate change to the shif ot maritime zone of jurisdiction. It covers principles of costal States’ entitlement of maritime areas and principle of maritime division between countries. Technical and legal terms such as baselines, basepoints, maritime jurisdictions, maritime boundareis are extensively used in this paper, the definition of which are provided subsection 4 of this paper and are illustrated relevant figures
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