Three Reconstructions of ‘Effectiveness’: Some Implications for State Continuity and Sea-level Rise
Journal: Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
Year: 2024

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are uniquely threatened by rising sea levels. Not only does the retreat of their coastlines place them in danger of losing maritime territory; the concurrent possibility of their landmasses becoming either uninhabitable or completely submerged also threatens their very existence. According to one understanding of the law that governs the continuity and extinction of states, political communities that permanently lose 'effectiveness'-typically understood as s