William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
Abstract
The core argument of this Article is that the current theoretical and legal frameworks are insufficient to fully comprehend the circumstances of the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), which claim to be in a “constant state of recovery or disaster.” The SIDS continue to suffer, as the extreme climate events become more frequent, severe, and compounding. The existing theoretical and legal frameworks assume that every disaster that begins must end, as does the recovery period following the disaster. However, in the case of some SIDS, the disaster or recovery period never ends. For example, sometimes, another disaster strikes even before the initial recovery period for the first disaster ends. This puts the SIDS in a vicious cycle of “disaster-recovery-disaster”, which has elements of law, finance, and human rights within it. While the frameworks are founded on assumptions that do not help the existing circumstances of SIDS, I explore both theoretical and legal tools that can be utilized to understand the vicious cycle of disaster-recovery-disaster in SIDS and assist in remedying it.