Fight for Statehood in Climate Crisis
Alegal framework needs to be put in place to accommodate special circumstances for countries in low lying Islands in the Pacific whose statehood is affected by rising sea level and climate change.
Minister for Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs of Tuvalu, Simon Kofe made the comments in Nadi yesterday.
He spoke during the regional conference on preserving statehood and protecting persons: legal options and institutional responses to the impacts of sea-level rise, in the context of international law at the Hilton Fiji Beach Resort on Denarau Island.
He said such conference aimed to bring some of the best and leading legal minds on the issues to help discuss and map a way forward. “Sea level rise affects us in many ways, but this conference is looking at the legal implications of sea level rise,” Mr Kofe said.
He said under international law, in order for a country to exist as a State, it must have a physical territory, a population and the government, capacity to enter into relations.
In 50 to 100 years, when the ocean is fully submerged, or inundated what becomes of some of the Pacific islands countries such as Tuvalu?
“The question then is, do we also lose our, statehood?”
The conference talked on preserving, statehood and protecting people affected by sea level rise.
“It is important for a number of reasons. One of which is to ensure that we are looking into the future, and provide a legal framework, to accommodate special circumstances that countries such as Tuvalu and other low lying Islands in the Pacific that the statehood is retained moving into the future,” he said.
“So far, no country has disappeared because of seas level rise and climate change.
“This is part of the international law that we are pioneering. The challenges that we have this definition under the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States sets out the criteria for statehood which is recognised but safe practise in history will also shows that criteria is not strictly followed.
“There have been incidents where countries lost control of their physical territory. “That will be an argument on our behalf as well to say that criteria are not fit. It comes down to recognition. If countries recognise that you are a state regardless of the impact of climate change in the future then you are a State.”
Cook Islands Prime Minister and chair of the Pacific Islands Forum Mark Brown said, “Our stewardship, our vision, our development aspirations; climate change-related sea-level rise threatens the future of our people and the statehood of many Pacific nations.”
“We are at a new frontier and the world once again looks to us to steer the way despite the problem and injustices being caused by others. This is our lived reality. This is our “climate emergency”.
He encouraged all to have at their disposal a very important benchmark, the Pacific-led groundbreaking Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the face of Climate change-related Sea-level rise.