THE VANISHING NATIONS AND THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF CLIMATE REFUGEES FROM SINKING ISLAND STATES
THE VANISHING NATIONS AND THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF CLIMATE REFUGEES FROM SINKING ISLAND STATES Anbunila P, 4TH (BBA LLB HONS), BHARATH INSTITUTE OF LAW – BIHER, Chennai (India) Download Manuscript doi.org/10.70183/lijdlr.2025.v03.166 Whole nations are slowly going underwater not due to war or poverty, but rather rising sea levels. As islands such as Tuvalu and Kiribati watch their territorial borders slip away along with their land mass, one very ominous legal question now arises: what happens to a nation whose land disappears, and what happens to the people of that nation when there is no state for them to identify themselves as citizens of? This article addresses a significantly under-explored area of climate-induced statelessness and the legal invisibility of climate refugees in international law. Using a doctrinal and comparative approach, this paper evaluates and critiques the deficiencies of existing legal regimes-the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1961 Statelessness Convention-in tackling such legal question. The paper also looks at how existing frameworks, such as the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, do not grant displaced persons due binding protection from environmental collapse, and how the absence of enforceable obligations continues to marginalize affected communities. It considers the emerging responses, including the proposals for digital sovereignty where nations such as Tuvalu attempt to preserve their identity, governance, and culture through technological continuity. It argues that ultimately, climate displacement is a constitutional and moral crisis, not just a humanitarian concern, which redefines concepts of nationhood, citizenship, and human rights; it calls for wide-reaching legal reform, ethical responsibility, and collective international cooperation to ensure that when land disappears, the law, identity, and justice will endure beyond the tides.