Sinking Islands form part of the dystopian reality faced by a world increasingly affected by climate breakdown today. As reported, around the world, ‘many islands are slowly but surely being submerged’. This article enquires into the potential role that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) may have, in its advisory capacity, in tackling the effects of climate change. In particular, this article deals with two broad issues: (i) it identifies the potential benefits and risks of an ITLOS Advisory Opinion on the issue of climate change under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and (ii) it examines the questions that COSIS recently posed to the tribunal, a number of sub-questions and relevant provisions under UNCLOS are further identified, and whether the Commission on Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law has complied with the procedural rules of ITLOS to trigger its advisory functions.

中文翻译：

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关于向国际海洋法法庭征求《联合国海洋法公约》气候变化咨询意见的请求

沉没的岛屿构成了当今世界日益受到气候崩溃影响的反乌托邦现实的一部分。据报道，在世界各地，“许多岛屿正在缓慢但肯定地被淹没”。本文探讨了国际海洋法法庭 (ITLOS) 以其咨询能力在应对气候变化影响方面可能发挥的潜在作用。特别是，本文涉及两个广泛的问题：(i) 它确定了 ITLOS 就《联合国海洋法公约》(UNCLOS) 下的气候变化问题发表咨询意见的潜在好处和风险，以及 (ii)它审查了 COSIS 最近向仲裁庭提出的问题，进一步确定了 UNCLOS 下的一些子问题和相关规定，