Statement at the High Level Meeting on Sea Level Rise

Mr. President, Excellencies,

1. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the 39 members of the Alliance of Small Island States, the states that are specially affected by sea level rise.
2. As states that are literally defined by the ocean around us, the effect that sea level rise is having and will have on us cannot be understated. The impact will be life-altering. It threatens the well-being of our peoples, communities, cultures, ecosystems, food security, livelihoods and traditional ways of life.
3. What compounds these serious and irreversible impacts is the unfairness of the situation. The climate crisis is not of our making. SIDS have contributed almost nothing to this global scourge.
4. Today is a vital day for our islands, and for the United Nations.
5. Since 1989, small island developing states have been sounding the alarm on sea level rise. That year, the international community adopted the Malé Declaration on Global Warming and Sea Level Rise. Since then, we have led the development of international law on this issue. The Pacific Island Forum adopted relevant declarations in 2021 and 2023, AOSIS did the same in the following years. Today’s meeting represents a moment of international solidarity, as all member states join SIDS on a path we have charted.
6. With today’s adoption of the UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise, the General Assembly has done something it has never done before. For the first time, all Member States have agreed on a single, common text on sea level rise. That is a genuine achievement. We thank the President of the General Assembly and the co-facilitators for their skill and their patience in bringing us here.
7. This Declaration matters because it touches many aspects of sea level rise. It puts science, data and knowledge, including traditional knowledge, at the foundation of our response. It recognises the urgent need for scaled-up, accessible and predictable finance for adaptation and resilience. It speaks to livelihoods, to populations, to culture and heritage —the elements that make our islands home. And it commits this body to keep sea level rise on its agenda, with a further high-level meeting before the end of the eighty-fourth session.
8. The Declaration also makes important statements about various elements of law that matter to AOSIS, particularly the stability of maritime zones, the continuity of statehood, and the protection of persons affected by sea level rise.
9. On maritime zones, the Declaration affirms that maritime zones, once established in accordance with UNCLOS, are stable. This is in line with the interpretation that AOSIS has advanced for years. As AOSIS, and many others, have also advanced UNCLOS does not obligate States to update their charts or lists of geographical co-ordinates that show the baselines and outer limit lines of their maritime zones once they have been duly established in conformity with the Convention. The rights and entitlements that flow from their zones continue to apply without reduction, notwithstanding any physical changes connected to sea level rise.
10. On statehood, the Declaration underscores continued statehood in the face of sea level rise, as well as our continued sovereignty, sovereign rights, and membership of the United Nations. Once a State is established, the loss of one of its constituent elements because of sea level rise does not mean the loss of statehood. Our nations are permanent members of this community of nations.
11. This Declaration affirms a number of widely held interpretations of international law. These interpretations were confirmed by the International Court of Justice and by the International Law Commission, and by our consistent and overwhelming practice as states. Sea level rise may threaten our coasts, our homes and our ways of life. It does not threaten our legal rights, entitlements or existence as States.
12. For AOSIS, this Declaration is a step in a decades long process, but it is far from the end of our journey. Today, this Assembly has spoken with one voice, and it is a momentous occasion.
13. AOSIS will continue to work with every delegation in this hall to implement what we have agreed and to continue to advance our collective efforts to address sea level rise. 
14. I thank you.