Lainie Nichols
Published 2 April 2023
The Pacific Island nation of Kiribati is home to approximately 100,000 people including Ioane Teitiota. Rising sea levels threatened Teitiota’s home forcing him to migrate to New Zealand and apply for status as a “climate refugee”. However, in 2015 the New Zealand government rejected Teitiota's request for asylum, sending him back to Kiribati, a state at risk of being the first country completely submerged by the ocean. Teitiota appealed to the UN Human Rights Council but the committee upheld New Zealand’s decision on the basis that Mr. Teititota was not facing an imminent threat to his life.
Teitiota may be the first instance of a small island citizen seeking refuge, but he will certainly not be the last. Since the 1900s sea levels have risen faster than at any other time in history. The UN notes, even if the world “miraculously” achieves the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius there will still be a sizable rise in the sea level. Sea level rise is not only causing irrefutable damage to small islands but will result in entire countries sinking beneath the ocean. Small islands are "collectively responsible for less than one percent of global carbon emissions” but are severely affected by the devastation of global warming. Thus, it would be unjust for the international community to make small island states bear the consequences of sea level rise alone.
When a small island state is overwhelmed many issues will need to be addressed, the first being the idea of statehood. The 1933 Montevideo Convention defined statehood as having a “permanent population, a defined territory, government, and capacity to enter into relations with other states”. If a small island state becomes engulfed by the ocean, it would not fulfill the criteria of having a territory and therefore lose statehood. Currently, the UN requires statehood for membership, to access the International Court of Justice, and the ability to engage in international treaties.
While international engagement is important, the most pressing ramification for small island states losing statehood would be a lack of rights to self-determination. The citizens of small island states would become subject to their “destination” state, the country they migrate to. Consequently, climate refugees would have to surrender sovereignty over important matters including governmental authority, state laws, and justice systems. The small island state would also lose its cultural and national identity, becoming subject to the destination state's values, norms, and way of life. Small island states would lose all political autonomy.
The United Nations has set an international standard that member states would assist in the self-determination of climate refugees. In 2012 the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights asserted that “states have a duty to take positive action, individually and jointly” to address and avert the threat climate change poses to people’s self-determination. However, this claim failed to explain the roles and duties destination states must fulfill. This ambiguity has allowed the international community to dismiss conversations involving the relocation of small island refugees, as many states do not want to sacrifice their land and resources. The lack of conversation has left many critical questions unanswered, such as which countries will take these climate refugees? Would it be the countries that historically had the largest contribution to greenhouse gases, countries with the lowest population density, or countries whose cultures align most similarly to those of the small island state? Would small island states be promised self-government over territory, or would they have to assimilate into the systems of their destination state?
The future of small island states must be a top priority for the international community and the United Nations. The United Nations needs to set a precedent for how small island states would address the loss of statehood and self-determination. Members of small island states deserve to have their fundamental rights and cultural identities preserved, even though their homeland is gone. The threat is imminent and it's time the international community acts.
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