The Hidden International Legal Obligation: The Prevention of Climate Statelessness

Abstract

So far, academic literature has mainly approached the risk of "climate statelessness" of the populations of Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Maldives and the Marshall Islands from a reactive perspective, always renouncing their territory or their entire statehood as the only way to avoid their statelessness. This thesis, however, lays the legal foundations for a proactive response to this anomalous situation while proposing a scheme for its implementation. By analysing the case of these small island states from a human rights perspective, as statelessness is – among other things - a human rights issue, a violation of the right to nationality, and reviewing the international legal obligations of the various actors of the international community, mainly states (individually and collectively) and the UN, under international law and international human rights law, this thesis elucidates a general legal obligation to “prevent Human Rights violations”. Thus, it draws attention to the fact that preventing the climate statelessness arising from the loss of statehood due to the impact of climate change is a matter of fulfilling international legal obligations and responsibilities. Furthermore, it analyses the R2P implementation framework as a model to propose a coherent and operational framework for implementing this international legal obligation at the state and international community level.