Anurag Sarthi, Sea-Level Rise and Digital Statehood
Location:
Online Only
Date/time
Thu 15 October 2026
11:00 - 12:30
The International Law Reading Group (ILRG) is pleased to announce the first speaker in this year's edition of the Early Career Research Exchange (ECRE) series. We will be welcoming Anurag Sarthi from the University of Delhi for an online presentation on the topic of sea-level rise and the use of solutions like digital statehood for the re-territorialisation of marine entitlements. Please find below information on the event and how to join.
Abstract:
In the Anthropocene, small island states are approaching a point where sea-level rise may erase their land territory, destabilising maritime entitlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as inundation alters coastlines and disrupts baselines. Sinking states are beginning to challenge orthodox assumptions to preserve their international legal status, exemplified by Tuvalu’s initiative to become a “digital state.” Yet contemporary international law retains a rigid territorial presumption, making it difficult to recognise states without a defined territory. Existing research fails to simultaneously theorise statehood and the law of the sea, missing the doctrinal basis for how digital infrastructures might legally preserve a nation’s marine entitlements. This research contends that a principled transition from ambulatory to fixed maritime baselines, coupled with the formal acknowledgement of “ex situ” digital statehood, offers a plausible legal and normative framework for safeguarding the sovereign rights of states experiencing complete territorial loss. Through doctrinal analysis, this research aims to make an exception to Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention for the climate vulnerable digital states by doing away with the quintessential qualification of “a defined territory” to be called a state and get recognised under international law. The article concludes by advancing solutions for the re-territorialisation of maritime entitlements to enhance legal certainty vis-à-vis supporting the progressive evolution of the law of the sea for climate adaptation.
Presenter:
Anurag Sarthi (he/him) is a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, and an advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of India. He has previously worked as an Assistant Professor of Law, and his research focuses on international maritime law, particularly the legal and regulatory framework governing submarine communication cables and emerging challenges in maritime security and governance.