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The Global Legal Studies Center presents a lecture by Rosemary Rayfuse, Professor of International Law, University of New South Wales, Australia:

“Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Sovereignty, Statehood and Disappearing States”
Monday, April 7, 2014, Noon-1:15pm
Lubar Commons, UW Law School

A light lunch will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.

About the lecture: Sea level rise, whether a result of natural processes of caused by anthropogenically induced or exacerbated climate change, will redefine the physical coastlines of states and alter the physical nature of the oceans. This redefinition may affect the legal constructs associated with coastlines, the maritime zones of States, potentially depriving States of sovereignty over ocean areas to which they were previously entitled. At its extreme, sea level rise may even lead to the disappearance of States, either physically or geopolitically. While reports of the emergence of the ’disappearing State’ phenomenon may be premature, the possibility poses challenging questions for international law, the answers to which are not entirely obvious.


Submitted by Law School News on April 3, 2014

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