The UN unanimously adopted a resolution urging action on rising seas through emissions cuts and resilience funding for vulnerable countries. It says maritime zones remain as coasts retreat and a state would not necessarily lose statehood if one constituent element disappears.
Global sea levels rose by almost six millimeters in 2024, the largest annual increase ever recorded. Without drastic action, levels are projected to rise by a meter or more by the end of the century.
Projections indicate flooding that might occur once every 50 years at today’s sea levels could happen every three or four years if levels rise by half a meter. Aon analyst Tom Mortlock said a centimeter of rise translates to a meter of coastline retreat; he also said mangroves can reduce coastal risk and support carbon sequestration and mitigation. Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr., speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States, welcomed the declaration as “a genuine achievement.”
