{"id":126986,"date":"2026-10-01T11:22:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=126986"},"modified":"2026-10-01T11:22:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T05:52:48","slug":"sea-level-rise-indias-eroding-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/sea-level-rise-indias-eroding-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea-Level Rise: UN Declaration and India&#8217;s Eroding Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Sea-Level Rise Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, the UN General Assembly adopted its <\/span><b>first-ever declaration on rising sea levels<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which pose an existential threat to populations worldwide.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declaration addresses <\/span><b>both the loss of territory<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> faced by vulnerable island nations and the <\/span><b>need for countries to build sea-level rise projections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> into coastal infrastructure planning \u2014 the latter being an area where India has significant work to do.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Scale of the Problem<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sea-level rise has been <\/span><b>&#8220;accelerating,&#8221;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the declaration&#8217;s own words.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The global rate of rise <\/span><b>more than doubled<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: from 2.1 mm\/year (1993\u20132002) to 4.7 mm\/year (2015\u20132024), as per the World Meteorological Organization.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024 alone, the sea rose <\/span><b>6 mm<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 the <\/span><b>largest annual increase on record<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Future projections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (from &#8216;Surging Seas in a Warming World&#8217;, a 2024 UN Secretary-General&#8217;s Climate Action Team brief):<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Lowest-emissions path<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Global sea level rises ~38 cm by 2100 above early-2000s levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>High-emissions path<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Rise could reach ~77 cm.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crucially, seas will keep rising for centuries to millennia, even if the world reaches net zero.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Can a Country Survive Losing Its Territory?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is the central legal question the declaration attempts to settle.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the <\/span><b>1933 Montevideo Convention<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a state is defined by <\/span><b>four criteria<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a permanent population,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a defined territory,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a government, and\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the capacity to enter relations with other states.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If rising seas swallow a state&#8217;s territory or make it uninhabitable, does statehood survive? The declaration&#8217;s answer: <\/span><b>Yes.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It affirms a <\/span><b>&#8220;<\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">presumption in favour of continued statehood<\/span><\/i><b>&#8220;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 such a country keeps its <\/span><b>sovereignty, rights, and UN seat<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crucially, it also keeps its <\/span><b>nautical boundaries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, even as the coastline physically retreats. These include:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Territorial Sea<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 extending 12 nautical miles (~22.2 km) from the coast.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/eez\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 extending up to ~370 km, within which a country holds exclusive rights over natural resources.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>On Emissions and Adaptation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The declaration calls adaptation and mitigation <\/span><b>&#8220;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">essential&#8221; but leaves actual emission-cut negotiations to the UN climate convention and the Paris Agreement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>On Displaced People:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It asks countries to respect the human rights of those who lose homes, encourages strengthened international cooperation, and supports voluntary choices and &#8220;<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mobility with dignity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>A Real Example Already Underway:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> By December 2025, more than a third of Tuvalu&#8217;s 11,000-strong population had applied for climate visas to migrate to Australia under a bilateral treaty.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What India Gains<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India welcomed the declaration and backed stable maritime zones and continuity of statehood.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also reaffirmed &#8220;common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities&#8221; \u2014 the principle that all countries must act on climate change, but those who caused more pollution and can afford more should contribute more.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>India&#8217;s Direct Stake<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2023\u201324 remeasurement counts 1,298 offshore islands\/islets and a coastline of 11,098 km.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands extend India&#8217;s maritime boundaries deep into the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A pledge to keep nautical boundaries fixed therefore protects India&#8217;s own waters, not just Pacific nations&#8217;.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Diplomatic Continuity<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vote extends India&#8217;s ongoing engagement with island nations \u2014 via the <\/span><b><i>Forum for India\u2013Pacific Islands Cooperation<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (set up with 14 Pacific countries in 2014) and the <\/span><b><i>Infrastructure for Resilient Island States initiative<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (launched at the 2021 Glasgow climate summit).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Is India&#8217;s Own Coast Ready?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Centre for Coastal Research tracked India&#8217;s mainland shoreline from 1990 to 2016 and found about a <\/span><b>third of it eroding<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nationally, losses and gains are roughly balanced: 234 sq km lost, 231 sq km gained elsewhere.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But losses are concentrated: nearly 400 km of coast is retreating by more than 5 metres\/year, and another 225 km by 3\u20135 metres\/year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">West Bengal alone has over 170 km in the fastest-eroding category \u2014 about a third of its entire coast.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Regulatory Gap<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the 2019 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/coastal-regulation-zone\/\" target=\"_blank\">Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)<\/a><\/strong> notification, the &#8220;no-build&#8221; strip is:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50 metres wide in densely populated rural areas (once a state&#8217;s coastal plan is approved).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">200 metres elsewhere.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both are measured from the high-tide line \u2014 defined as where the highest spring tide reaches today.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The problem: On a stretch losing 5 metres\/year, a house built 50 metres from today&#8217;s high-tide line would reach the water&#8217;s edge in about 10 years. Even the 200-metre strip would last only about 40 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>A Better Tool Exists But isn&#8217;t Fully Used<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Survey of India has mapped a <\/span><b>&#8220;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hazard line<\/span><b>&#8220;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> incorporating sea-level rise and shoreline change, shared with coastal states.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2019 rules use it only as a <\/span><b>disaster management planning tool<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while the actual no-build strip is still measured from <\/span><b>today&#8217;s<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tide line \u2014 not the projected future one.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Who the Declaration Leaves Out<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Sundarbans, the loss has already happened.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ghoramara island shrank from ~7.2 sq km (1972) to 3.6 sq km (2022).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Families who had earlier moved there from neighbouring Lohachara (which disappeared in the early 2000s) were displaced again within a decade \u2014 relocated to marginal land without secure tenure or livelihood support.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Legal Gap<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Indian law has no clear category for people who gradually lose land to erosion; each relocation is handled case by case.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2025 review in Frontiers in Marine Science estimates 45 million Indians will be at risk from sea-level rise by 2050, and notes India &#8220;still lacks comprehensive legislation&#8221; on this.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>A Model Worth Following<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Fiji wrote planned relocation into its Climate Change Act (2021), backed by a trust fund.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What India Should Do Before 2030<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Measure the no-build strip from the hazard line<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or widen it by the local erosion rate, starting with fastest-retreating stretches.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Enact a law for slow-onset displacement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ensuring relocated families receive land title and livelihood support.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Keep pressing on climate finance.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> UNEP estimates developing countries need over $310 billion\/year by 2035 for adaptation, against just $26 billion in international public adaptation finance (2023).\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At <\/span><b>Baku (2024)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, India called the new $300 billion\/year goal <\/span><b>&#8220;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">too little and too distant&#8221; \u2014 a position it should press again at COP31 in Antalya.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The declaration schedules the next high-level meeting on sea-level rise<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by September 2030 \u2014 giving India four years to act.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-climate\/un-sea-level-declaration-india-coastal-erosion-10900759\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <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\">DTE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sea-level rise is accelerating globally, prompting a UN declaration on statehood and maritime boundaries while highlighting India&#8217;s coastal erosion and regulatory gaps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":127047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,10598,22,59],"class_list":["post-126986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-sea-level-rise","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126986","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\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126986"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127097,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126986\/revisions\/127097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}