The Contribution of itlos to Fight Climate Change: Prospects and Challenges of the cosis Request for an Advisory Opinion

Abstract

On 12 December 2022, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (itlos) received a request from the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (cosis) to render an advisory opinion in order to clarify the obligations of States under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (unclos) to protect and preserve the marine environment in relation to climate change, including ocean warming, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. Although itlos has dealt with environment-related issues in the past, it has not yet specifically dealt with climate change and its (in)direct impacts. This contribution, drawing on the first opinion delivered by the Tribunal in 2015, aims to scrutinize some critical legal questions that the request will inevitably face, engaging particularly with its main procedural and substantive aspects. Since it is unlikely that itlos will encounter any unsurmountable obstacles to render the opinion, it would be expected that the Tribunal will take this opportunity to shed light on the implications of climate change for the legal regime of the sea, but also on the role of the Tribunal itself, to definitively clarify its advisory function.