World leaders approved the UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise
World leaders adopted the landmark legally non binding UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise at a high-level General Assembly meeting on 24th September 2026.
Background:
770 million people live in coastal areas affected by sea level rise.
Just a half-metre rise in sea levels by the end of the century could force between 150 million and 300 million people from their homes.
Island States face the possibility of substantial losses of land territory and even complete submergence, which could render them uninhabitable.
By 2100, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization estimates that seas will have risen by at least 0.5 metres, while the most pessimistic predictions estimate a full two metres increase.
For small low-lying nations in the Pacific Ocean like Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands, which lie only around two metres above the sea, this growing reality poses a very tangible threat.
Core Pillars of Declaration:
1. Knowledge, data and science
Insists action based on the best available science and knowledge, including the work of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the Regular Process for Global Reporting and
Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment
2. Pillar two: Adaptation, finance and resilience
Emphasize the need for strengthened
partnerships and cooperation to mobilise and provide financial, technical and policy support to
address sea level rise for developing countries, particularly SIDS and LDCs.
Calls for expanded access to bilateral, regional and international finance and ensuring timely
and predictable disbursement, as well as better coordination and effectiveness.
3. Pillar three: Livelihoods, socioeconomic challenges, culture and heritage
Sea level rise has wide-ranging and multi-dimensional impacts, including floods, loss of land,
salinisation of arable land and surface and ground water, coastal erosion, increased risk of
waterborne disease and permanent inundation. Rrecognises the
need to integrate these risks into social protection and national development planning, as
appropriate, as well as the fundamental role of management tools, including sustainable ocean
plans, marine spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management in supporting
sustainable ocean-based economic growth. We underline the importance of interlinkages
between the ocean, climate and biodiversity.
4. Pillar four: Legal dimensions of sea level rise
Underscore the
need for legal stability, certainty, and predictability of International law.
Stress the need for stability of maritime zones in response to physical changes resulting from
sea level rise.
Eemphasize the need for
States to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.
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