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Countries should keep their statehood if land disappears under sea, experts say
Countries should keep their statehood if land disappears under sea, experts say

The Guardian

time12 hours ago

  • Politics
  • The Guardian

Countries should keep their statehood if land disappears under sea, experts say

States should be able to continue politically even if their land disappears underwater, legal experts have said. The conclusions come from a long-awaited report by the International Law Commission that examined what existing law means for continued statehood and access to key resources if sea levels continue to rise due to climate breakdown. Average sea levels could rise by as much as 90cm (3ft) by 2100 if climate scientists' worst-case scenarios come true, and recent research suggests they could even exceed projections. This is particularly important for small island developing states because many face an existential threat. But as well as the direct loss of land, rising sea levels cause flooding, threaten drinking water supplies and make farmland too salty to grow on. Having waded through international law and scholarship and analysed state views and practices, legal experts concluded that nothing prevents nations from maintaining their maritime boundaries even if the land on which they are drawn changes or disappears. These boundaries give countries navigation rights, access to resources such as fishing and minerals, and a degree of political control. There is also general agreement that affected nations should retain their statehood to avoid loss of nationality. Legal experts say these conclusions are essential for maintaining international peace and stability. Speaking at the UN Oceans conference in Nice, Penelope Ridings, an international lawyer and member of the ILC, said the commission's work was driven by the 'fundamental sense of injustice' that sea level rise would be felt worst by the most vulnerable states, which had also contributed the least to the problem. Research has found that a third of present-day sea level rise can be traced to emissions from the 122 largest fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers. The Pacific nation of Tuvalu has been particularly vocal in its concerns. Sea levels on its nine islands and atolls have already risen by 4.8mm and are expected to get much higher over the coming decades. Australia was the first country to recognise the permanence of Tuvalu's boundaries despite rising sea levels. In 2023, it signed a legally binding treaty committing to help Tuvalu respond to major disasters and offering special visas to citizens who want or need to move. Nearly a third of citizens have entered a ballot for such a visa. Latvia followed with a similar pledge of recognition. At the oceans conference, the Tuvaluan prime minister, Feleti Teo, said his citizens were determined to stay on their land for as long as possible. The government has just finished the first phase of a coastal adaptation project, building concrete barriers to reduce flooding and dredging sand to create additional land. Teo noted that the US$40m scheme was 'very expensive' and it had taken years to secure money from the Green Climate Fund. He urged Tuvalu's development partners to be 'more forthcoming in terms of providing the necessary climate financing that we need to be able to adapt. And to give us more time to live in the land that we believe God has given us and we intend to remain on'. Ridings said it was now up to states to take the commission's work forward. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Bryce Rudyk, a professor of international environmental law at New York University and legal adviser to the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), said the ILC had been very responsive to small states, which have traditionally not had their voices heard in matters of international law but are increasingly at the forefront of legal advances on climate change and marine degradation. In recent years, Aosis and the Pacific Islands Forum have both declared that their statehood and sovereignty, as well as their membership of intergovernmental organisations such as the UN, will continue regardless of sea level rise. The international court of justice, which will issue a highly anticipated advisory opinion on climate change in the coming months, was petitioned by Aosis to affirm this.

Guam legislature set to debate pursuit of US statehood
Guam legislature set to debate pursuit of US statehood

ABC News

time21-05-2025

  • Politics
  • ABC News

Guam legislature set to debate pursuit of US statehood

There's debate in Guam over whether it should persuade the US Government to grant it statehood. The territory's decolonization committee says any move must be determined by the people. Guam's legislature is set to debate a non-binding resolution to pursue statehood, following a proposal put forward by Senator Parker Williamson earlier this year. The territory is listed by the UN for decolonization and last year became an associate member at the Pacific Islands Forum. "I wasn't surprised a call for statement," said Melvin Won Pat Borja, the Executive Director of Guam's Commission on Decolonization. "The current status of Guam as an unincorporated territory is an inequitable status to like statehood," he added. "My primary focus is that the Chamorro people's right to self determination doesn't take a back seat to a particular preference."

Ukraine has ‘one last chance'
Ukraine has ‘one last chance'

Russia Today

time20-05-2025

  • Politics
  • Russia Today

Ukraine has ‘one last chance'

Authorities in Kiev have one last opportunity to preserve some kind of statehood after the Ukraine conflict inevitably resolves, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said, urging Kiev to engage in peace talks. Speaking at an international legal forum in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, Medvedev - who serves as the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council - admitted that Moscow doesn't like the current political regime in Kiev 'at all.' Nevertheless, he suggested that Ukraine's leaders have 'one last chance to preserve, under certain conditions, after the end of military actions, some kind of statehood or, if you like, some kind of international legal personality and gain a chance for peaceful development.' Though the Ukrainian government lacks any sovereignty and is a failed 'quasi-state' in its current form, Moscow remains open to holding unconditional direct peace negotiations that would take into account the current realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict, Medvedev stated. Moscow is concerned that there are currently no individuals in Ukraine that have the legal authority to sign any sort of a peace deal with Russia, he noted. This concern mainly has to do with the fact that a treaty signed by the current leadership could subsequently be rejected once a new government in Ukraine is elected, he explained. Zelensky's presidential term officially expired last year, and he has since repeatedly held off holding new elections, citing the conflict with Russia and martial law. While Moscow has questioned Zelensky's legitimacy as Ukraine's leader, last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov signaled that the Russian side may overlook his status in order to resume peace negotiations. 'The interests of entering the peaceful settlement process are above all else,' Peskov said, stressing that 'the primary goal is to begin this negotiation process,' while all other questions are 'secondary.' Last week, delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul, marking their first direct talks since Kiev unilaterally abandoned the peace process in 2022. The head of Russia's negotiating team in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky, later said the two parties had agreed to conduct a prisoner swap involving 1,000 POWs from each side, and to continue contacts once both have prepared detailed ceasefire proposals.

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