Development of the law of the sea historical outline and contemporary attempts to respond to climate change

Abstract

The law of the sea as one of the most important domains of public international law is developing dynamically. The process of establishing maritime law norms is made of many centuries of struggle for the interests of individual maritime powers and decades of negotiations on an international agreement. Unfortunately, in the face of the threat to the statehood of many states and the existence of many dependent territories, being climate change, the UNCLOS is not enough. Hence, international custom appears so important and brings fast and satisfactory international legal effects. The process started by island states in the Pacific Ocean is unprecedented. They deposit satellite coordinates of their maritime borders at the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf at the Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea. In this way, they confirm the rights of territorial integrity and the rights stemming from UNCLOS in relation to their zones - primarily the continental shelf.