International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

• The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an independent judicial body established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 
• It has jurisdiction over any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention, and over all matters specifically provided for in any other agreement which confers jurisdiction on the Tribunal. 
• Disputes relating to the Convention may concern the delimitation of maritime zones, navigation, conservation and management of the living resources of the sea, protection and preservation of the marine environment and marine scientific research.

Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS)

• Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are least responsible for climate change but will be most affected by the short and long-term effects of it. 
• Over the coming decades, SIDS will encounter “rising sea levels, extreme weather events, coral bleaching, loss of fisheries and marine biodiversity”, as well as the risk of total submersion. 
• Facing this existential threat, as well as inaction on the international stage, the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda and Tuvalu signed the Agreement for the Establishment of the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS) on the eve of COP26. 
• The mandate of the Commission shall be to promote and contribute to the definition, implementation, and progressive development of rules and principles of international law concerning climate change, including, but not limited to, the obligations of States relating to the protection and preservation of the marine environment and their responsibility for injuries arising from internationally wrongful acts in respect of the breach of such obligations.
• Membership is open to any member of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS):

• The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) was born(1990) out of the need of SIDS countries to have their voice heard in the global fora. 
• These countries, due to their vulnerable geography, smaller size and insufficient resources, are the first to be affected by climate change.
• AOSIS has worked to give voice to the vulnerable, drawing the attention of the world to the moral imperative of climate action to meet the needs of not only the most powerful, but of all people, and particularly those at the greatest risk. 

Why in news?

• Recently, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered an advisory opinion sought by the COSIS concerning the specific obligations of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on climate change mitigation.
• The Tribunal, in its Opinion, laid down very clearly that under Article 194(1) of the UNCLOS, “the Parties have specific obligations to take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce and control marine pollution from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)”