The small island states in the Indo-Pacific: sovereignty lost?

Abstract

The consequences of climate change are being experienced asymmetrically, with States which were exploited during the colonial era disproportionately bearing the costs. Among these States, the case of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is haunting due to their increasing uninhabitability amidst rising sea-levels. This article will interrogate the crystallized Western notion of Statehood and urge a vision of its four pillars as interconnected. By training a postcolonial lens, it will then exemplify the ways in which international law and policy has been constructed and wielded so as to invert the interests of the SIDS, thereby necessitating the proposed shift in the understanding of Statehood. The article will thereafter analyse the array of options available to the SIDS as recourse, with the endeavour of initiating a dialogue that is mindful of their particularities and trajectories.