The legal status of climate-displaced persons in Contemporary International Law: (re)thinking statehood in submerged territories

The sustained rise in sea level, a visible consequence of climate change, profoundly challenges the very foundations of classical international law. The gradual but irreversible disappearance of island territories raises a question that until recently was considered purely theoretical: can statehood survive when the territorial element, the material basis of sovereignty, disappears? The answer to this question affects the continuity of the international personality of certain states, as well as the fate of their populations, who face displacement and the possible loss of nationality. In this context, the principle of uti possidetis iuris, originally conceived as an instrument for stabilising borders in decolonisation processes, takes on renewed relevance. Its eventual adaptation to the maritime and climatic sphere could offer a basis for preserving the legal identity of states threatened by the submersion of their territory, guaranteeing a certain continuity of their sovereign boundaries and powers. However, its effectiveness is limited if it is not accompanied by a broader reflection on the centrality of the human person in the preservation of the international order. This paper therefore proposes to rethink statehood from a dual perspective: structural, in terms of the survival of the international subject despite the loss of territory; and humanitarian, in terms of the legal status of climate displaced persons, a figure that still lacks full normative recognition. The articulation between these two levels—the continuity of the state and the protection of its people—requires a reconstruction of international law in light of climate justice, aimed at preserving the legal status of states and safeguarding the dignity of those who, having lost their land, claim to continue belonging to the international community.