‘Oceania’ connotes a sea of islands with their inhabitants. The world of our ancestors was a large sea full of places to explore, to make their homes in, to breed generations of seafarers like themselves. People raised in this environment were at home with the sea.

— Epeli Hau’ofa, Our Sea of Islands, 1993

Abstract

Pacific Island nations, facing an existential threat to their statehood and maritime sovereignty due to climate change-induced sea level rise, are taking innovative legal action. This chapter examines their strategic use of international legal mechanisms, focusing on the deposition of maritime boundaries with the United Nations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It underscores the unique challenges island nations face and their potential to influence global legal developments concerning climate change and state sovereignty.

https://doi.org/10.71236/AGIU4286