Transcript
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, sets out the provisions for mapping, delimiting and declaring a country's maritime boundaries which define its exclusive economic zone.
Boundaries are set from baseline land features, specifically at the tide's median low-water mark.
The Pacific Community's manager of ocean affairs, Jens Kruger, says as the law stands, if something were to happen to those land features, it would influence maritime boundaries.
"If a land feature was to disappear, there are currently no provisions under UNCLOS on how to deal with that. So these are the kinds of discussions we're currently having and that's something we need to think about because we do not want to have reduced jurisdiction because of climate change."
The law of the sea was ratified in 1982 before global warming and sea-level rise were a consideration.
Mr Kruger says Pacific governments are working to ensure they're not further disadvantaged by the climate crisis which they've done little to create.
"The standpoint that we're taking is that there will be no loss in jurisdiction due to climate change and international law is not very clear on the subject. So for example, the International Law Commission is currently investigating this and we are working with them to bring our opinion to the table."
Pacific Island Forum leaders encouraged members at their August meeting in Tuvalu to conclude all outstanding maritime boundary claims.
They reaffirmed the importance of maintaining existing rights and committed to ensuring these could not be challenged as a result of sea-level rise.
But Tuvalu's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simon Kofe, says the inequities of the law of the sea need to be addressed.
"So a lot of the rules that govern the delimitation of maritime boundaries, measurements from baselines, never really considered the possibility of those baselines regressing inwards, which would affect the outer limits of those boundaries."
Mr Kofe says the starting point for change is to redefine the baselines from which marine boundaries are measured.
"We're looking at redefining baselines as co-ordinates, co-ordinates that have been declared under our laws. Those are our baselines so regardless of the water-lines shifting inwards, we still consider the co-ordinates that we've declared as permanent fixtures from which we measure our Maritime zones."
Simon Kofe says the new baselines Tuvalu is adopting are taken from low-water marks back in 2012.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's foreign ministry said in a statement it was working with Pacific Forum members to raise international awareness.
"Our hope is that countries will see that resolving this issue benefits not only those small island developing states most affected by sea-level rise, but all countries as it will provide important certainty to maritime boundaries and avoid future disputes."
Simon Kofe says another consideration is whether a country's exclusive economic zone can be preserved even if all its land becomes submerged.
"Once we make these declarations as to our maritime zones that they are permanent regardless of changes to the landscape and to the geographic configuration of our islands. But equally, another challenge that we also face is the laws governing statehood. Whether we can still be recognised as a state under international law if we lost our land territory."
Mr Kofe says the Law of the Sea needs updating but he says this can be done by nations agreeing and adopting new practices for a changing world.
