What Remains When Territory Disappears? On the Possibility of Climate Sovereignty

Abstract

As rising sea levels threaten to render low-lying island states uninhabitable, international law faces an urgent dilemma: can statehood persist without territory? Traditional legal frameworks, anchored in the territorial criteria outlined by the Montevideo Convention, provide no definitive guidance on this unprecedented scenario. This article proposes "climate sovereignty," a novel theoretical framework designed to address the challenges of climate-induced territorial loss.

Climate sovereignty redefines statehood beyond fixed territory, emphasizing instead the continuity of a people, their governing institutions, and collective identity, even when physical territory is submerged or uninhabitable. By shifting international legal recognition from a land-centric approach to a community-based framework rooted in self-determination, climate sovereignty offers a legal pathway responsive to the evolving realities of vulnerable states. Through illustrative cases of Tuvalu and Kiribati, this article demonstrates the normative justification and legal viability of recognizing deterritorialized statehood within contemporary international law.

Ultimately, this article seeks to advance international law’s response to an unprecedented existential threat, advocating for proactive recognition mechanisms and urging a fundamental reconsideration of sovereignty itself. It argues that, in a climate-altered world, nationhood must not disappear alongside territory.