This project supports coordination tasks involved in the chairmanship of the Committee on International Law and Sea Level Rise of the International Law Association (ILA). The Committee was established by the ILA Executive Council in 2012 and is one of the 20 currently active international committees of the ILA.

The mandate of the Committee is to study the possible impacts of sea level rise on international law, and to develop proposals for the interpretation and development of international law in relation to the challenges posed by sea level rise. The Committee focuses on fundamental considerations at the junction of several parts of international law, such as the law of the sea issues of maritime limits and boundaries, questions of statehood and the rights of affected populations, forced migration and human rights, and other questions of international law prompted by the scientific projections of sea level rise in a short, medium and longer-term. The Committee has a membership of 45 prominent international law experts from 22 regional and national ILA branches and the Headquarters branch, and is chaired by FNI Research Professor Davor Vidas. The Committee delivered three comprehensive reports at the Biennial Conferences of the ILA so far – in Johannesburg in 2016, Sydney in 2018, and Lisbon in 2022 – and the final report is due to be presented at the 81st ILA Biennial Conference in Delphi in 2024.

Project period: 2020-2024