Is it possible for a group of people to hold territorial rights to a geographic region which they have abandoned? This paper discusses the particular case of Small Island States threatened by sea-level rise. According to some estimates, climate change-induced sea-level rise might within fifty years render uninhabitable the territories of a number of Small Island States such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Maldives. The people of these states will be forced to abandon their homelands. They will become what is sometimes called “territorially dispossessed”. It has been suggested by some law scholars that international law already acknowledges the concept of deterritorialised statehood and hence that Small Island States could continue to exist qua self-determining peoples even after they have abandoned their territories. This paper argues that deterritorialised statehood as it is understood in international law would give a territorially dispossessed people from a Small Island State the characteristics necessary for them to be legitimate holders of territorial rights to their abandoned homeland and territorial waters. The paper also argues that, while territorial rights do not necessarily entail ownership rights over natural resources within the territory, in the case of territorially dispossessed peoples rights over natural resources would improve their opportunities to remain a self-determining people.
