<div> There is a growing appreciation that an ocean transformed by climate change carries many implications for the law of the sea. Ambassador Tommy Koh, who served as President of UNCLOS III, has observed that climate change involves “existential problems, including; the disappearance of islands and nations; environmental refugees; its effects on basepoints, maritime zones and potentially maritime boundary agreements; as well as affecting the status and entitlement of offshore features”.&nbsp; Koh also notes that “the oceans are being warmed and acidified, which bleaches and kills coral reefs that are very important to fisheries and to coastal communities who depend on fishing for a livelihood”.&nbsp; Nonetheless, Koh who had also served as Chair of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 where the UNFCCC was concluded, is hopeful that “it will be possible, within the framework of [UNCLOS], to bring solutions to some of [these] problems”.&nbsp;&nbsp;<span>The purpose of this essay, in tribute to Ambassador Koh, is to examine this possibility, and to assess whether UNCLOS is destined to be a passive framework, only responding and adapting to the oceanic effects of climate change, or whether it has a role to play in actively addressing the causes of the climate crisis.</span> </div> <div> <br> </div>