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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sue Farran
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of a conference proceedings (inc. abstract) that has been published in its final definitive form by Society of Legal Scholars, 2022.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
At COP26 in 2021 the Foreign Minister from Tuvalu, a Pacific island state which is a member of the United Nations, stood knee-deep in water to highlight the threat of climate change and rising seas to his country's very existence. The threat is not diminishing and the question that he and others want answered is whether Tuvalu can continue to exist if its lands are under water? Can it retain a right to its extensive Exclusive Economic Zone to provide for its displaced people if it no longer has territory or will these be lost to become areas beyond national jurisdiction? Current international law makes no provision for this specific eventuality. Yet increasingly the law is recognising virtual as opposed to actual property/things and making regulations to govern these. This paper looks at the current state of international law and considers whether a bridge can be constructed between sinking states and non-fungibles in order inform a legal solution to Tuvalu's problem.
Author(s): Farran S
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference
Year of Conference: 2022
Online publication date: 06/09/2022
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Date deposited: 29/09/2022
Publisher: Society of Legal Scholars
URL: https://www.legalscholars.ac.uk/conference/