Climate Change and Rising Sea Level: Need for an International Regime for Displaced People and Geoproperty Rights

Abstract

Sea was at an inconceivably low level in the ancient world. The migratory routes traversed by the humans were over hard grounds all around. Suddenly the sea level rose. It was a strange phenomenon for the ancient people. They could not figure out the reason. The sea level continued rising for a long period. The people reflexively drew back to higher grounds. Today, the sea level is again rising. People know the reason. But they do not have a place to retreat or means to recover their losses. The world is delimited by territories fortified by sovereign laws. This paper is centred on this fact. Individuals, groups and national governments will lose geoproperty if their countries are inundated by the rising sea water. When the low lying entities submerge underwater, the high ground countries will face a different kind of overflow-refugees from the sunken world. There will be many collateral issues. One of them will be the sudden spurt in the unlawful act of human trafficking and smuggling. Among the various geopolitical entities, only Maldives and Kiribati have started raising alarms at the international level. Every one heard it, but no one played heed to their plight. People can be displaced internally or externally. The nations that go underwater will generate externally displaced people who will have to relocate elsewhere. The nations that may face migratory influx should be compensated for accepting such refugees. Can it be by transfer of titles of the sunken world? It is too early to mention. An international regime, as coherent as the Law of the Sea or as an adjunct to it, may be able to protect the interests of the people who lose their nations and properties, and of the nations who provide them refuge under humanistic consideration.