Background

Click here to download the COSIS treatyStates who are least responsible for climate change, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), will be the most likely to bear the worst brunt of its effects in the short- as well as the long-term. Over the coming decades, SIDS will encounter "rising sea levels, extreme weather events, coral bleaching, loss of fisheries and marine biodiversity", as well as the risk of total submersion. Facing this existential threat, as well as inaction on the international stage, the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda and Tuvalu signed the Agreement for the Establishment of the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS) on the eve of COP26. The Agreement was registered with the United Nations in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations. The Republic of Palau acceded to the Agreement in November 2021, Niue in September 2022, Vanuatu in December 2022, and St. Lucia in December 2022. Membership is open to any member of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Mandate

According to Article 1(3) of the Agreement establishing COSIS: "The mandate of the Commission shall be to promote and contribute to the definition, implementation, and progressive development of rules and principles of international law concerning climate change, including, but not limited to, the obligations of States relating to the protection and preservation of the marine environment and their responsibility for injuries arising from internationally wrongful acts in respect of the breach of such obligations."

Structure

The Co-chairs of COSIS

The Co-Chairs have appointed Committees and Sub-Committees to advise on the exercise of the Commission's mandate and conduct of its activities.

The Committee of Legal Experts comprises 14 legal scholars and practitioners.

Collectively, they bring decades of expertise on international environmental law and the law of the sea, as well as practice in international courts and tribunals. The Committee is gender balanced with representatives from States on six continents. They serve on subcommittees relating to (1) the marine environment, (2) loss and damages, (3) sea-level rise, (4) human rights, and (5) litigation management. They have been assisted by international lawyers Charlotte Ruzzica de La Chaussée and Jessica Joly Hébert.

The Committee on Strategy, Management, and Outreach comprises the Co-Chairs of COSIS plus five members of the Committee of Legal Experts.