Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are among the least responsible for climate change but face its most severe consequences, including rising sea levels, extreme weather events, loss of biodiversity, and even the existential threat of submersion. In response to this crisis and the international community’s inaction, COSIS was established in 2021 by Antigua and Barbuda and Tuvalu, later joined by other SIDS, to amplify their voices in international legal forums. COSIS aims to use international law to protect the rights of SIDS, holding States accountable for their obligations to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

In a compelling keynote speech delivered at the UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe, Nazhat Shameem Khan explored the pivotal role international law must play in addressing the pressing ecological crises of our time. Her address emphasized the need for flexibility, innovation, and collective effort to adapt legal frameworks to the realities of environmental degradation and climate change.

UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe’s ED Kate Mackintosh spoke on Al Jazeera’s Newshour about the significance of the environmental and agricultural destruction in Gaza and how the environment is protected under international law. She highlighted the current proposal to add ecocide to the Rome Statute, and why environmental damage during wartime has not been prosecuted, despite the fact that there are laws in place to do so.