Instructions on how to download the meeting papers using Edge, Chrome or Firefox website browsers.

1. Click on Download link for each meeting paper [to the right of the screen]
2. Enter password when prompted – $S-LR$3
   The paper should download. If you are using Firefox – the paper will download to the downloads folder on your computer

***Please contact info@forumsec.org if you face any difficulties with downloading meeting papers***

 

 

2023 Regional Conference on Statehood and the Protection of Persons Affected by Sea- Level Rise

27-30 March 2023

 

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

(1) Concept Note 

 

(2) Conference Programme 

 

(3) Conference Booklet

 

(4) List of Participants 

 

(5) Advice on Arrangements

 

 

OFFICIAL OPENING

 

(7) Welcome Remarks by PIF SG Henry Puna

(8) Opening Remarks by Forum Chair, PM Mark Brown

(9) Keynote Address by Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe

(10) Remarks by SPC

 

 

 

 

PART ONE: SEA-LEVEL RISE IN RELATION TO STATEHOOD

 

SESSION: OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

 

Overview of the Conference 

 

 

SESSION ONE: SPECIAL AND INEXTRICABLE LINKS BETWEEN OUR PEOPLES AND OUR STATEHOOD 

(1) Securing the Blue Pacific Continent: Building on the PIF Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the face of climate change-related sea-level rise and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, Dr Filimon Manoni

 

 

(2) The Science / IPCC Reports: Climate change-related sea-level rise impacts on Pacific Island countries, Professor Christina Voigt

 

 

(3) Preserving Tuvalu’s Culture, Values, and Statehood in the Face of the Climate Crisis: An Examination of Tuvalu’s Response, Honourable Simon Kofe

 

 

 

SESSION TWO: RECOGNITION OF STATEHOOD UNDER INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL LAW  

(1) International Law and Statehood: An overview of the 1933 Montevideo Convention, key issues, and complexities, Professor Rosemary Rayfuse 

 

 

(2) The Presumption of continuity of States and the maintenance of international legal personality without a territory: Some practical examples, Professor Payam Akhavan

 

(3) The principles of stability, security, certainty, and predictability of maritime zones, Dr Nilufer Oral

 

 

(4) Constitutional Law related to statehood, Ruel Yamuna

 

 

 

 

SESSION THREE: LEGAL CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE IMPACT OF SEA LEVEL RISE ON STATEHOOD; AND LEGAL OPTIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES 

(1) ILC Second Issues Paper: Key issues, complexities, and solutions, Dr Juan Jose Ruda Santolaria

 

 

(2) The rights of states affected by sea-level rise: Potential legal options and institutional responses to preserve Statehood, Professor Anne Orford

 

 

(3) International law development: normative declarations and legal developments on sea-level rise and statehood, Professor David Freestone

 

 

(4) A Practical Perspective to Addressing the Legal Challenges of the Impact of Sea-level Rise on Statehood, Dr Penelope Ridings

 

 

(5) Group Activity: Re-cap on Part One 

 

 

 

 

 

PART TWO: PROTECTION OF PERSONS AFFECTED BY SEA-LEVEL RISE 

 

SESSION FOUR: RECOGNITION OF THE PROTECTION OF PERSONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

(1) The Protection of Persons under International Law: An Overview, Patricia Galvao Teles

 

 

 

(2) Protecting persons displaced across international borders due to climate change, Ian Fry

 

 

 

(3) Legal developments on the protection of persons: cases and jurisprudence, Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh

 

 

 

SESSION FIVE: LEGAL CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE IMPACT OF SEA-LEVEL RISE ON PERSONS; AND LEGAL OPTIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES 

(1) An Analysis of International Human Rights Law as it relates to the protection of persons affected by sea-level rise: the complexities and how they can be addressed, Bruce Burson

 

 

(2) Displacement and Migration in the context of Sea-Level Rise: Climate Mobility and International Law, Professor Jane McAdam

 

 

(3) Regional Framework on Climate Mobility

 

 

 

(4) Protection of Cultural Rights, Dr Eselealofa Apinelu

 

 

 

(5) State practice: Small Island States and States with low-lying coastal areas: Protection of persons in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samuel Lanwi

 

 

 

(6) Legal Challenges and implications of the Impact of sea-level rise on Persons; and Legal Options and Institutional Responses, Johanna Gusman

 

 

 

(7) The practice of relevant international organisations and bodies in ensuring the protection of persons affected by sea-level rise, Patricia Galvao Teles

 

 

 

(8) Fragmentation of international legal frameworks: Towards a more specific, coherent and complete legal framework, Professor Surya Subedi

RC23.5.8 Prof Subedi – Fragmentation (Video Summary)

 

 

 

(9) Group Activity: Re-cap on Part One

 

 

 

 

 

PART THREE: LEGAL OPTIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES

 

SESSION SIX: LEGAL OPTIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES

(1) Group Activities: Identifying and prioritising options

(2) Conference Outcomes