THE FUTURE OF SMALL ISLAND STATES FACING SEA-LEVEL RISE. AN INTERNATIONAL LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE

Fourteen years ago, the former president of the Maldives, Mr. Nasheed, seemed to make a clear statement at the Copenhagen Climate Conference: "This is a matter of life and death. The science is clear. Carbon concentrations higher than 350 parts per million and the temperature rises above 1.5 degrees will submerge my country, dissolve our coral reefs, turn our oceans to acid, and destabilize the planet's climate.” The Maldives, but also all the other island states of the world, are now, and have been for many years, seeing their livelihoods endangered by climate change and rising sea levels. Although scientific projections do not always agree on the extent of future climate change effects, some have already affected these territories: coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, flooding, and tidal waves that reduce agricultural land and freshwater resources. Faced with this tragic situation, the populations concerned have sometimes begun to migrate to neighboring territories. Indeed, these threatened states, despite their limited means, are trying to cope with the risk of submergence by adopting measures to adapt to and combat the effects of climate change and by raising the awareness of the international community, but as the latter has often shown little involvement, climate-related migrations have already begun. There are many issues at stake here, since beyond the question of relocating threatened populations, the potential disappearance of the State's territory raises, in particular, the question of the extinction of a State in international law under the Montevideo Convention, the nationality of displaced persons and the protection of their rights, and finally, the international obligations of third States and the international community for the emergence of climate justice. While the simplest legal solution would be for the people concerned to relinquish their independence to another state, which would then become the successor state, the fundamental issue of people's rights and their sense of cultural belonging remains.