With Atoll Island States and International Law, Lilian Yamamoto and Miguel Esteban join a growing body of scholars devoting their attention to the plight of low-lying atoll island States like Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Increasingly the focus of a gloomy narrative of loss, displacement and statelessness, these atoll island States are all too often portrayed as the ‘canary in the coalmine’ of climate change. Yamamoto and Esteban seek to challenge this narrative by drawing the reader's attention to the geomorphological resilience of the coral reefs that form the basis of these atolls. However, they also take seriously the possibility that the territory of atoll island States may eventually become uninhabitable, raising difficult questions about statehood, statelessness and sovereignty over natural resources.
As the authors of one of several books on climate change and small island States published since 2010, Yamamoto and Esteban must work hard to set themselves apart. They do so by adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on insights from international law and coastal engineering to examine both the physical impacts of climate change on atoll island States, and the legal questions these impacts raise. Disappointingly, however, the authors do not provide the innovative analysis that this collaboration promises. With the exception of Chapter 5, the material is divided along disciplinary lines and largely summarizes the existing debate, rather than providing any original substantive analysis.
The book is roughly divided into two halves. The first half provides what the authors describe as a ‘literature review of the existing knowledge on atolls’ (9), while the second half examines potential legal and technical solutions to the threats posed by climate change. Chapters 2 and 3 outline the ecological, anthropological and climate-change-related challenges facing atoll island States, both now and in the future. Chapter 4 summarizes the role of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in existing climate change negotiation and decision-making frameworks. Chapter 5 offers the only sustained interdisciplinary analysis of the book, examining a series of possible scenarios—ranging from complete submergence to the construction of artificial islands—alongside the legal strategies or engineering techniques required by each. Chapters 6 and 7 assess whether international law has the capacity to respond to the impacts of climate change on the territorial integrity and statehood of atoll island States, and the human rights and nationality of their citizens. Here, Yamamoto and Esteban assess the relevance of various bodies of international law, including refugee law, human rights law and ad hoc complementary and temporary protection regimes, as well as existing law on statehood and nationality.
Yamamoto and Esteban draw two main conclusions. First, they argue that using dykes and landfill to raise the height of existing islands ‘represents the clearest path for an atoll island state to preserve its maritime zones and sovereignty’ (170) and protect its citizens against permanent displacement. Their primary reason for relying on coastal engineering rather than international law to resolve this dilemma is that the latter will be too costly and time-intensive. Amending the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, for example, would ‘involve protracted negotiations in various venues around the planet, with the associated consultancy … and travel fees’ (286).
However, as the authors admit, continually raising the height of even a handful of islands will be far beyond the financial and technological reach of most atoll island States, with the possible exception of the Maldives. Even here, the construction of tetrapods around the island of Malé, at a cost of US$4,000 per metre, was only possible with support from Japan (87). The authors’ decision to reject any attempt to modify or expand upon international law on the basis of cost alone is poorly defended and makes for somewhat uninteresting legal analysis.
Second, should this engineering approach prove unsuccessful, the authors suggest that a combination of soft law guidelines and bilateral agreements for the protection of ‘climate change displaced people’ (226) offers the best alternative solution. A soft law framework will encourage States to take a ‘more conciliatory approach’ to a shared global problem (245), while bilateral agreements allow for a quick and targeted response that avoids many of the pitfalls of negotiating a binding multilateral treaty. This argument is well rehearsed in the literature and Yamamoto and Esteban add little to the debate.
Their abrupt shift towards a non-binding legal framework for the protection of individual islanders also muddies their earlier claims. If the value of the State is understood primarily in terms of shared cultural identity and sovereignty over natural resources (176), then it is unclear how the bilateral or soft law framework the authors envisage can ensure that atoll island States continue to exist as States. If it is not intended to do so, then this shift in focus must be clearly justified, particularly given the book's explicit concern with statehood and sovereignty.
Nevertheless, Atoll Island States and International Law provides a useful overview of the geophysical and legal consequences of climate change for atoll island States for students who are new to the material, although they would do well to note that many references are incorrect or incomplete. However, those who would prefer more detailed and insightful analysis would do better to start with the recent collection edited by Michael Gerrard and Gregory Wannier, or the work of Jane McAdam, Katrina Wyman or Rosemary Rayfuse.
