Latin America's Contribution to the Normative Discussion Around Rising Sea Levels: Incorporating the Principles of Uti Possidetis and Solidarity

• Main Author: Wagner Menezes
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law 2023
• Subjects: International Law; International Environmental Law; Global Warming; Sea Level Rise; Law of the Sea; Latin America; Foreign and Comparative Law; Comparative and Foreign Law; Environmental Law; International Humanitarian Law; Law; Arctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; Climate change; Global warming
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol38/iss3/7; https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/context/aulr/article/2239/viewcontent/38.3_685_Menezes.pdf

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, good morning. Initially, I would like to give thanks for the kind invitation made by Professor Claudio Grossman and now members of the committee to participate in this special conference on sea level rise and International Law’s impact on the Americas, which has set up an ahead of time debate due to the effects that are being experienced by the entire international community. The conference that preceded me today highlighted the emergence of this discussion, and this systemic character that involves its interpretation by impacting our states and peoples, demanding coordinated action in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation. As a phenomenon, climate change generates a series of serious environmental consequences, which can already be observed today. One of the consequences of the planet’s rise in temperature is the rise in sea level, which is due to the melting of glaciers in the arctic and in Antarctica, in an unprecedented and unexpected way. This will result in flooding and submersion of coastal areas, causing various damage such as reconfiguring the geographical boundaries that make up these states. In this sense, the goal of this presentation is a quick and objective analysis of the existing norms around the theme, and then to reflect how Latin America is situating this discussion and what could be its contribution to normative interpretation of this subject.