The Principle of Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources as an Anchor in Times of Sealevel Rise

The research project is based on the question of what happens with the sovereign rights over the maritime zone of the Island States, which will probably lose their status as a state in the near future, because the territory will disappear. The author focuses on the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources and tries to answer the question of whether this principle, if held by people rather than states, allows the people to maintain sovereign rights over the maritime zones of the island states. If this thesis is affirmed, which legal personality might be suitable for the people, and if this legal personality fits in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea?