United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged "drastic action" on addressing the existential threats posed by sea-level rise.
A house destroyed by rising sea levels and coastal erosion associated with climate change two years ago in the community of El Bosque in Nuevo Centla, Tabasco state, Mexico, May 21, 2024. /CFP
"Only drastic action to reduce emissions can limit sea level rise. And only drastic action to adapt can keep people safe from rising waters," said Guterres in his remarks at the UN General Assembly plenary meeting on addressing the existential threats posed by sea-level rise.
"Everyone must be protected by an alert system by 2027 – in line with our Early Warnings for All initiative. And all countries must deliver new national climate action plans – or Nationally Determined Contributions – well ahead of COP30 next year," he said.
"Our world is in dangerous waters," Guterres said. "Scientists tell us that the global sea level is now rising faster than at any time in the last 3,000 years, and accelerating – the rate of increase has more than doubled since the 1990s."
"They tell us the cause is clear: greenhouse gases – overwhelmingly from burning fossil fuels – are heating our planet, expanding seawater and melting ice. But they cannot tell us where this will end. That is down to world leaders today. Their choices will determine the scale, pace and impact of future sea-level rise," he said.
Temperature increases over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels could take the world past dangerous tipping points, potentially leading to long-term, irreversible collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets, said Guterres. "In the worst-case scenario, people alive today could witness sea levels rise by meters."
"We made real progress at the Summit of the Future. We must keep driving that forward – including at the World Summit for Social Development and the Financing for Development conference next year," said Guterres. "We must also address gaps in our international legal framework concerning sea-level rise: to ensure continuing access to resources, while protecting existing maritime boundaries; as well as to protect affected persons and – in extreme scenarios – to address the implications related to statehood."
"We cannot leave the hopes and aspirations of billions of people dead in the water. We cannot allow the wholesale destruction of countries and communities. It's time to turn the tide. And save ourselves from rising seas," he said.
According to a study cited by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, five nations – the Maldives, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Kiribati – may become uninhabitable by 2100, which will create 600,000 stateless climate refugees.
(Cover: A house destroyed by rising sea levels and coastal erosion associated with climate change two years ago in the community of El Bosque in Nuevo Centla, Tabasco state, Mexico, May 21, 2024. /CFP)