Sea-Level Rise: Affected nations call for immediate action
The representatives of small island developing States and low-lying countries today urged immediate international action to combat sea-level rise, a global crisis threatening the lives and livelihoods of 1 billion people worldwide.
This issue was raised during the General Assembly’s inaugural high-level meeting on sea-level rise, in New York on September 25, 2024.
“Today is our historical opportunity to turn the global tide and to embark on a common path that secures prosperity, dignity and rights to all affected countries and communities,” said the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, noting that this event finally places sea-level rise at the top of the international agenda and marks “the take-off” for global efforts to shape an ambitious Assembly declaration in September 2026.
“The existential threat we face is not of our making,” he said, adding: “But it will remake us”. Livelihoods are destroyed, families gradually move, community cohesion is tested, heritage is lost, and eventually, the very fabric of nations becomes increasingly threatened. “For many of us, these are the hard realities we experience today, not the projections of a coming future,” he emphasized.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations estimates that by 2050, global sea levels will rise between 15 and 30 centimetres, on average.
“Our world is in dangerous waters. In line with the “Early Warnings for All” initiative, every nation must be protected by an alert system by 2027. The Group of 20 (G20) responsible for around 80 per cent of global emissions must lead. We need a strong financial outcome at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29)”, warned Secretary-General António Guterres in his introductory remarks.
The General Assembly President, Philémon Yang, highlighted the need for a collective response that protects those who call the world’s most vulnerable regions home.
“Not everyone has the luxury of high ground or the financial resources to take precautionary measures,” he said.
Dennis Francis (Trinidad and Tobago), added that this high-level meeting “finally” recognizes that sea-level rise has an agenda of its own through the Assembly’s “remarkable and unprecedented” action. “Let us sculpt our ambition into an action-oriented comprehensive declaration,” he emphasized.
In the day-long discussion, nearly 100 speakers took the floor, with many small island developing States and low-lying nations detailing their challenges, including lack of financing for mitigation and adaptation measures. Others outlined their technical and monetary support for vulnerable States.
The President of the Seychelles, noting that his country’s economy relies on tourism and fisheries, said that despite pioneering initiatives like debt-for-nature swaps” and sovereign blue bonds, it still lacks finances to address sea-level rise.
Noting that “climate change is wiping away decades of development gains in minutes”, Maldives’ President urged partners to continue to support the most vulnerable through the Loss and Damage Fund.
Among those who outlined their initiatives to support adaptation and mitigation measures in affected countries was the Secretary of State of the United States, who said that his country helps more than half a billion people to adjust to climate change.
For its part, the Republic of Korea contributed $300 million to the Green Climate Fund in 2023 and will provide an additional $300 million by 2027 to support climate change adaptation in developing countries, said its Minister for Oceans and Fisheries.
Several speakers underscored the importance of data and science, including the use of innovative approaches and artificial intelligence (AI) for monitoring and risk analysis, with Estonia’s President calling for establishing close international cooperation between scientists to exchange global climate evidence and share measures of sea-level fluctuations to provide risk scenarios.
