Climate Change: Could State Sovereignty Over Maritime Boundaries Also Change?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22437/up.v7i1.52731Keywords:
state sovereignty;, baselines;, unclos 1982;, climate changeAbstract
Background: Climate change has presented a serious challenge to traditional concepts of state sovereignty in international law, particularly in the context of establishing baseline as the basis for measuring maritime boundaries. Sea level rise that causes the sinking of small islands and the shift of coastline has the potential to change the delimitation of a country's maritime area, thereby creating uncertainty over the scope of maritime sovereignty. However, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) does not explicitly regulate the mechanism for adjusting the baseline due to such permanent geographical changes. Based on these conditions. Methodology: This study uses normative juridical methods with a legislative, conceptual, and analytical approach to the practice and development of international law. Objective: This study aims to analyze whether and how state sovereignty over marine areas can be maintained when the geographical basis of determining the baseline changes due to climate change. Findings: The results of the analysis show that the application of the concept of fixed baseline or historical baseline can be a relevant legal instrument to maintain stability, legal certainty, and sustainability of maritime sovereignty of archipelagic countries. Originality: The uniqueness of this research lies in the effort to reconstruct the concept of state sovereignty in international law of the sea through a non-ambulatory approach to the baseline as a normative response to climate change, by placing the interests of archipelagic countries such as Indonesia as the focus of the analysis.
References
Amanda Christie. “Climate Change Impact on Archipelagic State: The Beginning of Indonesia’s Territorial Maritime Extinction?” Aliansi: Jurnal Hukum, Pendidikan Dan Sosial Humaniora 2, no. 2 (2025): 17–27. https://doi.org/10.62383/aliansi.v2i2.803.
Arifin, Saru. Hukum Perbatasan Darat Antar Negara. Sinar Grafika, 2022.
ASEAN Secretariat. ASEAN Maritime Outlook. ASEAN Secretariat, 2023.
Brownlie, Ian. Principles of Public International Law. 7th ed. Oxford University Press, 2008.
Burns, William CG. “The Impact of Climate Change on Pacific Island Developing Countries in the 21st Century.” In Climate Change in the South Pacific: Impacts and Responses in Australia, New Zealand, and Small Island States. Springer, 2000.
Cazenave, Anny. “Global Sea-Level Budget 1993–Present.” Earth System Science Data 10 (2018): 1551–90. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1551-2018.
Churchill, R. R., and A. V. Lowe. The Law of the Sea. 3rd ed. Manchester University Press, 1999.
Couch, Brad. “Sinking Tuvalu Want Our Help as Ocean Level Rise.” The Daily Telegraph, Oktober 2008. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24448958-5005941,00.html.
Freaddy Busroh, Firman, Fatria Khairo, and Sitta Saraya. “Reevaluating ‘First-to-File’ vs the Legality Principle: Rethinking Justice for Original Rights Holders in Indonesia.” Jambe Law Journal 8, no. 1 (2025): 421–42. https://doi.org/10.22437/home.v8i1.596.
Gita Narnina W, Ratu, and Arie Afriansyah. “Rising Sea Level: Legal Consequences on the Shifting of Coastal State Baseline.” Padjadjaran Journal of International Law 3, no. 2 (2019): 142–60. https://doi.org/10.23920/pjil.v3i2.321.
Gosling, Simon N., Rachel Warren, Nigel W. Arnell, et al. “A Review of Recent Developments in Climate Change Science. Part II: The Global-Scale Impacts of Climate Change.” Progress in Physical Geography 35, no. 4 (2011): 443–64.
International Law Commission. Sea-Level Rise in Relation to International Law (UN Doc. A/73/10). United Nations, 2018.
Kusumaatmaja, Mochtar. Pengantar Hukum Internasional: Buku I – Bagian Umum. Bina Cipta, 1981.
Law, Tara. “Record-Breaking Temperatures Around the World Are ‘Almost Entirely’ Due to Climate Change.” Time.Com, August 20, 2019. https://time.com/5652972/july-2019-hottest-month/.
Malhi, Yadvinder, Janet Franklin, Nathalie Seddon, et al. “Climate Change and Ecosystems: Threats, Opportunities and Solutions.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 375, no. 1794 (2020): 20190104. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0104.
Pacific Islands Forum. Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the Face of Climate Change-Related Sea-Level Rise. Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, 2021. https://forumsec.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/2021%20Declaration-on-Preserving-Maritime-Zones.pdf.
Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 38 Tahun 2002 Tentang Daftar Koordinat Geografis Titik-Titik Garis Pangkal Kepulauan Indonesia (2002).
Presse, Agence-France. “Sea Level Rise from Ocean Warming Underestimated, Scientists Say.” The Guardian 26 (2016).
Priyasmoro, Muhammad Radityo. “115 Pulau Di Indonesia Terancam Tenggelam Akibat Perubahan Iklim, Antisipasinya?” Liputan6.Com, September 19, 2021. https://www.liputan6.com/news/read/4661260/headline-115-pulau-di-indonesia-terancam-tenggelam-akibat-perubahan-iklim-antisipasinya.
Putra, Akbar Kurnia, Muhammad Reza Syariffudin Zaki, Hanna Adistyana Hefni, and Christopher Michael Cason. “Agreement on Agriculture WTO: Discourse on Indonesia’s Food Security in a Global Context.” Lex Scientia Law Review 8, no. 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.15294/lslr.v8i1.14066.
Radon, Jenik. “Sovereignty: A Political Emotion, Not a Concept.” Stan. J. Int’l L. 40 (2004): 195.
Rayfuse, Rosemary. “International Law and Disappearing States: Utilising Maritime Entitlements to Overcome the Statehood Dilemma.” University of New South Wales Law Journal 34, no. 1 (2011).
Rothwell, Donald R. The Oxford Handbook of the Law of the Sea. Oxford University Press, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198715481.001.0001.
Schofield, Clive. Against a Rising Tide: Ambulatory Baselines and Shifting Maritime Limits in the Face of Sea Level Rise. 2008.
Sefriani. Hukum Internasional: Suatu Pengantar. 5th ed. Rajawali Pers, 2014.
Sheehan, James J. “The Problem of Sovereignty.” American Historical Review 111, no. 1 (2006): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr.111.1.1.
Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 6 Tahun 1996 Tentang Perairan Indonesia (1996).
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Budi Ardianto, Helmi Helmi, Akbar Kurnia Putra; Munawir Munawir
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
