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What happens under international law if a state perishes due to rising sea levels without a successor state being created? Will the state cease to exist? What would this mean for its population? Have international law and globalization progressed enough to protect the people thus affected
List of contents
A. Introduction
A Brief Overview of the Science Behind Climate-Change-Induced Rising Sea Levels
Small Island States, the Rising Seas, and the International Community
The Rising Seas and International Law - Open Questions and How to Find Answers
B. What does an Entity Need to Qualify as a State? - or What it Takes to be a State
C. When does a State Cease to Exist? - or What it Takes Not to be a State Anymore
Loss of Territory
Criterion "A Defined Territory" Endangered by the Rising Seas?
Statehood Endangered by the Loss of "A Defined Territory"?
Examples of Rights and Duties Associated with Sovereignty
Sovereign Action on Foreign Territory
a) Cases of Interventionist Actions on Foreign Territory
b) Cases of Tolerated Actions on Foreign Territory
c) Limitations on Action on Foreign Territory as a Consequence
Other Forms of Sovereignty
Conclusion
Examples of "Statehood" without Territory
Non-Territorial Unions
Sovereign Subjects of International Law without Territory
States that Temporarily Lost their Territory
Virtual States
Conclusion
States' Considerations with Regard to Potential Loss of Territory
Conclusion
Loss of Population
Concluding Thoughts on What it Takes Not to be a State Anymore
D. What it Means to be a State - the Emergence of the Modern State and its Significance Today
Rights of a Modern State
Challenges for the Contemporary Concept of a State
Humanization - the Increasing Importance of the Individual
Globalization - the Decreasing Importance of Territory?
Concluding Thoughts on What it Means to be a State
E. What it Means Not to be a State Anymore - the Consequences of the Loss of Statehood for the State's Population and the International Community
Loss of Statehood and its Effects on the Respective Populations - Individual and Collective Dimension
Nationality and Why Having a State is (Still) Important for the Protection of Human Rights
Emerging Infringements on the Human Rights of (Indigenous) Peoples from Small Island States due to Rising Sea Levels
Collective Dimension of Human Rights Infringements due to Climate Change
Conclusion
Loss of Statehood - Triggering a Responsibility of the International Community?
Human Rights Approach
Responsibility that Comes with Solidarity
Responsibility to Protect
Causal Responsibility
Responsibility of the One Able to Respond
Conclusion
Concluding Thoughts on What it Means Not to be a State Anymore
F. Closing Remarks
About the author
Carolin König works as a lawyer in a law firm specializing in energy law. Her personal focus is on international law and the climate policy aspects of energy law. She studied law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and holds a PhD in international law.
She was a research assistant at the Institute for International Law with a focus on International Human Rights Protection at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich. She also gained professional experience at the German Foreign Office, in various law firms, including in the field of asylum law, and as legal advisor to the Permanent Mission of the Maldives to the United Nations.
Summary
What happens under international law if a state perishes due to rising sea levels without a successor state being created? Will the state cease to exist? What would this mean for its population? Have international law and globalization progressed enough to protect the people thus affected
