{"id":126780,"date":"2026-09-29T15:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T10:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=126780"},"modified":"2026-09-29T15:47:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T10:17:41","slug":"un-declaration-on-sea-level-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/un-declaration-on-sea-level-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The United Nations General Assembly recently adopted its first declaration on sea level rise, with member states, including the US, agreeing on a common text.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was adopted by the <\/span><b>United Nations General Assembly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during a high-level plenary meeting on September 24, <\/span><b>2026<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is the <\/span><b>UN\u2019s first declaration on sea level rise.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declaration establishes a<\/span><b> common international position <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on the legal and practical <\/span><b>challenges posed by rising seas.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Global mean sea level <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reached a <\/span><b>record high in 2024, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and its <\/span><b>rate of rise has doubled<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, from<\/span><b> 2.1 millimeters per year in 1993-2002 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to<\/span><b> 4.7 millimeters <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">per year<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in <\/span><b>2015-2024.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Major Highlights of the Declaration:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It affirms that <\/span><b>countries <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">threatened by rising oceans<\/span><b> do not automatically lose their statehood<\/b> <b>if their territory becomes submerged.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means that the continued existence of a country under international law would not necessarily depend on its territory remaining above water.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It supported the<\/span><b> continued existence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of such states\u2019s <\/span><b>sovereignty, rights, responsibilities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>UN membership.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The issue is particularly <\/span><b>relevant to small island developing States (SIDS),<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where rising seas can reduce habitable land and, in extreme cases, lead to the submergence of territory.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It calls for <\/span><b>stability in maritime zones despite physical changes to coastlines.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It states that <\/span><b>countries can maintain maritime zones established under <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (<\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/united-nations-convention-on-the-law-of-the-sea\/\" target=\"_blank\">UNCLOS<\/a>) as sea levels rise, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">while <\/span><b>retaining the right to update them.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The issue arises because <\/span><b>maritime zones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are generally <\/span><b>measured from coastal baselines.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is particularly important for island nations because <\/span><b>maritime zones<\/b> <b>determine rights over ocean resources<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and activities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declaration also addresses the wider threat that rising seas pose to coastal populations, infrastructure, and livelihoods.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Around <\/span><b>770 million people <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">worldwide <\/span><b>live less than five metres above<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the <\/span><b>high-tide line,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> according to a UN report on sea level rise and human rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Without significant efforts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to reduce emissions and adapt to rising seas, the <\/span><b>risks facing coastal cities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and communities could<\/span><b> increase tenfold by 2100.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declaration <\/span><b>calls for<\/b> <b>stronger anticipatory action<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including <\/span><b>multi-hazard early warning systems,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and for <\/span><b>climate-related risk assessments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to be incorporated into planning and decision-making.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also urges <\/span><b>greater international cooperation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to provide <\/span><b>financial, technical and policy support<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to developing countries, particularly SIDS and least developed countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declaration calls for increased funding to support local responses to sea level rise.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It <\/span><b>identifies nature-based measures,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including the protection and <\/span><b>restoration of mangroves, kelp forests,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>seagrass meadows, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as ways to help coastal communities adapt.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declaration also calls for <\/span><b>sea level rise projections to be taken into account when planning,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> constructing, and maintaining critical <\/span><b>coastal infrastructure.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/climate-change\/un-adopts-first-declaration-on-sea-level-rise-backs-continued-statehood-of-island-nations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>DTE<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly during a high-level plenary meeting on September 24, 2026. Read more about UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise, Latest News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":126715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,10565,22,23],"class_list":["post-126780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","tag-prelims-pointers","tag-un-declaration-on-sea-level-rise","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126780"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126809,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126780\/revisions\/126809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}