Type

Journal Article

Author(s)

Willcox, S.

Title

Climate change inundation, self-determination, and atoll island states

Year

2016

Journal

Human Rights Quarterly

Vol (No), pp

38(4), 1022-1037

Abstract

“Climate change inundation” presents a unique challenge to the territorial, legal, and political infrastructure of low-lying atoll island states, and to the autonomy and independence of their populations. This article examines this challenge from the perspective of self-determination, a legal principle whose relevance in this context has been widely acknowledged but not yet explored in detail. It identifies atoll island populations as self-determining peoples and argues for the recognition of climate change inundation as a grave external threat to their self-determination. It then proposes a collective decision-making framework for atoll island peoples, drawing inspiration from the Declaration on Friendly Relations.

Citation

Willcox, S. (2016). Climate change inundation, self-determination, and atoll island states. Human Rights Quarterly, 38(4), 1022-1037. URL : https://muse.jhu.edu/article/636568/pdf