The UN agreed that a country can outlive its land.
States have outlived losing their land before. What kept them going was other countries choosing to recognize them.
What happened
UN member states adopted the first declaration on sea-level rise: a country does not stop being a country if its territory goes under water, and island states keep their maritime zones.
- Member states, including the United States, adopted the first UN declaration on sea-level rise. Down To Earth
- It affirms continued statehood and keeps maritime zones defined under the Law of the Sea even as coastlines retreat. GKToday
Read the full account
On 24 September, at a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, member states adopted the first UN declaration on sea-level rise. Its central point: a country does not automatically stop being a country if its territory goes under water. Island states may also keep the maritime zones they have already established under the Law of the Sea, even if their coastlines retreat. The United States joined the agreement.
Since the 1933 Montevideo Convention, a state has usually been described as having four things: a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and the ability to deal with other states. For low-lying island nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives, the first of those is no longer guaranteed. About 770 million people live less than five meters above the high-tide line. Sea level rose 5.9 millimeters in 2024, a record.
The declaration builds on a July 2025 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, which said that statehood is not necessarily lost when its traditional elements disappear. It is not binding, and it does not lower the sea. Palau's president said so directly: “Only strong climate action can do that.”
Why it matters
About 770 million people live less than five meters above the high-tide line. For the smallest island states, this decides whether they keep a seat, a passport and their waters.
How we got here
- 1933The Montevideo Convention. The first of those four is what the sea is taking.
- 2025The ICJ's advisory opinion. The legal footing this week's declaration stands on.
Previous flights on this route
How similar situations went before
Situations like this one, what happened next, and where each one landed.
Drafted from the historical record. Awaiting human review.
1940Governments in exileNorway, the Netherlands and others
- ThenOccupation forced several European governments to run their countries from London.
- NextThe Allies kept recognizing them, and they kept their embassies and seats at international talks.
- Landed · Recognized throughoutThey went home in 1945 as the same states.
1940The Baltic statesEstonia, Latvia and Lithuania
- ThenThe Soviet Union annexed all three.
- NextThe United States and many others never recognized the annexation, and Baltic legations kept working abroad.
- Landed · Restored in 1991In 1991 they regained independence and were treated as the same states, restored.
1870The Holy SeeThe papacy
- ThenThe Pope lost the Papal States, and with them almost all territory.
- NextMany countries kept diplomatic relations with the Holy See anyway.
- Landed · Kept its seatThe 1929 Lateran Treaty created Vatican City. The Holy See never stopped being an international actor.
Usual flight path. A state loses its ground, other states decide to keep recognizing it, and the recognition carries it until it has a home again.
How this flight is different
Where the comparison stops holding
- Every earlier case expected the land to come back. The sea will not recede.
- The declaration is not binding, and it does not lower the sea.
- Whole populations will need somewhere to live. Australia's 2023 treaty with Tuvalu already offers Tuvaluans a path to move there.
What to watch
- Whether any country challenges the principle, especially over fishing or seabed rights
- Whether adaptation finance pledges follow the words
Where the exits are
Our sources, and how sure we are
The declaration and the vote are public. How a state with no habitable land would actually work has never been tested.
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