Maritime Cultural Heritage in the Time of Rising Sea Levels

Emma Bartmann

doi:10.1163/22116001-04001-003

Maritime Cultural Heritage in the Time of Rising Sea Levels

Emma Bartmann^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Junior professorship of Public Law, European Law and Public International Law, in particular Environmental Law and the Law of the Sea

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Sea levels are rising at an unprecedented speed. This poses a threat to the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of small island States in particular. Both cultural practices and heritage sites, such as the UNESCO world heritage site Nan Madol in the Federated States of Micronesia, are at risk of disappearing. While the effects of sea level rise on the status of islands and baselines under UNCLOS have been extensively debated, little attention has been paid to the consequences these debates have on cultural sites and practices. As cultural heritage law and the law of the sea intersect in the protection of both tangible and intangible maritime cultural heritage, a comprehensive evaluation of both areas of international law is necessary to determine if and how these regimes interact, and how maritime cultural heritage may be protected effectively.

Original language	English
Journal	Ocean Yearbook Online
Volume	40
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	20-38
Number of pages	19
ISSN	0191-8575
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1163/22116001-04001-003
Publication status	Published - 09.2026

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright 2026 by Koninklijke Brill BV, Leiden, The Netherlands. This work is published by Koninklijke Brill BV. Koninklijke Brill BV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Brill Wageningen Academic, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress. Koninklijke Brill BV reserves the right to protect the publication against unauthorized use and to authorize dissemination by means of offprints, legitimate photocopies, microform editions, reprints, translations, and secondary information sources, such as abstracting and indexing services including databases. Requests for commercial re-use, use of parts of the publication, and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill BV.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 13 Climate Action

Research areas and keywords

climate change
Cultural heritage
maritime zones
sea level rise
small island States
Seerecht
Internationales Recht
Völkerrecht
Zeitschrift
Cultural studies

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Law

Access to Document

10.1163/22116001-04001-003

Cite this

@article{ef17f7458ed3470cb10f2a5b9eadd3fb,

title = "Maritime Cultural Heritage in the Time of Rising Sea Levels",

abstract = "Sea levels are rising at an unprecedented speed. This poses a threat to the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of small island States in particular. Both cultural practices and heritage sites, such as the UNESCO world heritage site Nan Madol in the Federated States of Micronesia, are at risk of disappearing. While the effects of sea level rise on the status of islands and baselines under UNCLOS have been extensively debated, little attention has been paid to the consequences these debates have on cultural sites and practices. As cultural heritage law and the law of the sea intersect in the protection of both tangible and intangible maritime cultural heritage, a comprehensive evaluation of both areas of international law is necessary to determine if and how these regimes interact, and how maritime cultural heritage may be protected effectively.",

keywords = "climate change, Cultural heritage, maritime zones, sea level rise, small island States, Seerecht, Internationales Recht, V{\"o}lkerrecht, Zeitschrift, Cultural studies",

author = "Emma Bartmann",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright 2026 by Koninklijke Brill BV, Leiden, The Netherlands. This work is published by Koninklijke Brill BV. Koninklijke Brill BV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Sch{\"o}ningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Brill Wageningen Academic, Vandenhoeck \& Ruprecht, B{\"o}hlau and V\&R unipress. Koninklijke Brill BV reserves the right to protect the publication against unauthorized use and to authorize dissemination by means of offprints, legitimate photocopies, microform editions, reprints, translations, and secondary information sources, such as abstracting and indexing services including databases. Requests for commercial re-use, use of parts of the publication, and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill BV.",

year = "2026",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1163/22116001-04001-003",

language = "English",

volume = "40",

pages = "20--38",

journal = "Ocean Yearbook Online",

issn = "0191-8575",

publisher = "Brill Verlag",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Maritime Cultural Heritage in the Time of Rising Sea Levels

AU - Bartmann, Emma

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright 2026 by Koninklijke Brill BV, Leiden, The Netherlands. This work is published by Koninklijke Brill BV. Koninklijke Brill BV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Brill Wageningen Academic, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress. Koninklijke Brill BV reserves the right to protect the publication against unauthorized use and to authorize dissemination by means of offprints, legitimate photocopies, microform editions, reprints, translations, and secondary information sources, such as abstracting and indexing services including databases. Requests for commercial re-use, use of parts of the publication, and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill BV.

PY - 2026/9

Y1 - 2026/9

N2 - Sea levels are rising at an unprecedented speed. This poses a threat to the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of small island States in particular. Both cultural practices and heritage sites, such as the UNESCO world heritage site Nan Madol in the Federated States of Micronesia, are at risk of disappearing. While the effects of sea level rise on the status of islands and baselines under UNCLOS have been extensively debated, little attention has been paid to the consequences these debates have on cultural sites and practices. As cultural heritage law and the law of the sea intersect in the protection of both tangible and intangible maritime cultural heritage, a comprehensive evaluation of both areas of international law is necessary to determine if and how these regimes interact, and how maritime cultural heritage may be protected effectively.

AB - Sea levels are rising at an unprecedented speed. This poses a threat to the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of small island States in particular. Both cultural practices and heritage sites, such as the UNESCO world heritage site Nan Madol in the Federated States of Micronesia, are at risk of disappearing. While the effects of sea level rise on the status of islands and baselines under UNCLOS have been extensively debated, little attention has been paid to the consequences these debates have on cultural sites and practices. As cultural heritage law and the law of the sea intersect in the protection of both tangible and intangible maritime cultural heritage, a comprehensive evaluation of both areas of international law is necessary to determine if and how these regimes interact, and how maritime cultural heritage may be protected effectively.

KW - climate change

KW - Cultural heritage

KW - maritime zones

KW - sea level rise

KW - small island States

KW - Seerecht

KW - Internationales Recht

KW - Völkerrecht

KW - Zeitschrift

KW - Cultural studies

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105049582499

U2 - 10.1163/22116001-04001-003

DO - 10.1163/22116001-04001-003

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:105049582499

SN - 0191-8575

VL - 40

SP - 20

EP - 38

JO - Ocean Yearbook Online

JF - Ocean Yearbook Online

IS - 1

ER -

Maritime Cultural Heritage in the Time of Rising Sea Levels

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research areas and keywords

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this