1. Introduction: Addressing sea level rise through the lens of climate change Sea level rise is, in the current context of climate emergency, a slow and continuous phenomenon, sometimes hardly noticed by coastal populations, if not for the disappearance of the dunes or the erosion of the coasts that accompany it. The relative discretion of...

1. Introduction Sea level rise is a dramatic phenomenon of growing concern to the international community, as it will directly affect some 70 coastal and island States and indirectly affect almost all States due to problems arising from increased migration and lack of natural resources.[1] This is clear from the last IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on...

1. Introduction Qu’il existe une dimension sécuritaire liée aux changements climatiques ne fait plus aucun doute. La potentielle disparation de larges portions de territoires en raison de l’élévation du niveau de la mer, avec tout ce que cela engendre, en particulier en termes de mouvements migratoires, n’est qu’une des manifestations de la menace à la...

1. Introduction Despite the lack of legal sources providing a definition of ‘State’ in international law, ‘territory’ has always been recognized as an essential component of statehood alongside two other elements, namely ‘permanent population’ and ‘government’.[1] Traditionally, ‘territory’ is referred to as a natural segment of the Earth’s surface; its size is irrelevant. As a...

1. Introduction In the framework of the broader question of the adverse impact of sea-level rise (hereinafter: SLR) on low-lying coastal and archipelagic States, the specific question of the effects on baselines has been receiving increasing attention in the international debate. The question is whether, once a State has determined its baselines by a legislative...