United Nations Declaration on Sea Level Rise

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 12 Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields, published in 2026.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Climate Change Declarations (Text)International Law Sea Level Small Island Developing States

What’s in this document?

1 operative paragraph

Adopts the declaration entitled “United Nations Declaration on Sea Level Rise”, pursuant to the high-level meeting on addressing the existential threats posed by sea level rise, held on 24 September 2026 in accordance with General Assembly decision 78/558 of 1 August 2024, as contained in the annex to the present resolution.

United Nations Declaration on Sea Level Rise

We, the Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives to the opening of the eighty-first session of the General Assembly, at the high-level meeting to enhance action on sea level rise, proclaim this United Nations Declaration on Sea Level Rise.

We are deeply concerned about sea level rise. Sea level rise is not a distant scenario, but a real and lived experience for many. Rising sea levels are primarily driven by ocean warming and melting ice sheets and glaciers, and we note with concern this phenomenon is accelerating. It imperils people living on islands and in coastal regions, low-lying deltas and archipelagos around the world, and erodes hard-won development gains, especially for developing countries and, in particular, small island developing States and least developed countries. Its cumulative, severe and irreversible risks demand stronger international cooperation and urgent, coordinated action. Adaptation and mitigation action, based on the best available science and knowledge, is essential to addressing sea level rise.

We affirm the need to implement international law in our response to sea level rise, including the law of the sea as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

¹United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1833, No. 31363.

We emphasize the importance of strengthening action to address sea level rise by protecting our shared environment. We emphasize that our response to sea level rise should be in accordance with, reinforce and not duplicate or undermine existing applicable legal instruments, processes or mechanisms. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement are the primary international intergovernmental forums for Parties to those agreements to negotiate their global response to climate change, and we acknowledge the importance for those Parties to act in accordance with their principles and implement their provisions, and to fulfil the obligations and commitments that each Party has agreed to undertake. We further emphasize that all States, in the exercise of their national sovereignty, may address sea level rise impacts at the national, regional and international levels.

²Ibid., vol. 1771, No. 30822.

³Adopted under the UNFCCC in FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1, decision 1/CP.21.

We commend the leadership of small island developing States, as some of the States most affected, in highlighting and aiming to address sea level rise, and take note of the 1989 Malé Declaration on Global Warming and Sea Level Rise, the 2021 Pacific Islands Forum Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the Face of Climate Change-related Sea Level Rise, the 2023 Pacific Islands Forum Declaration on the Continuity of Statehood and the Protection of Persons in the Face of Climate Change-related Sea Level Rise, the 2021 Alliance of Small Island States Leaders’ Declaration and the 2024 Alliance of Small Island States Leaders’ Declaration on Sea Level Rise and Statehood.

knowledge, data and science

Our action must be based on the best available science and knowledge, including the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects, and relevant national, regional and international scientific bodies, as appropriate, and where available, traditional knowledge, knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and local knowledge systems, while respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and local communities. We commit to further improving the understanding of sea level rise and supporting exchanges and collaboration to accelerate action.

⁴Resolution 61/295, annex.

⁵Nothing in the present declaration shall be interpreted as extending the rights set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to local communities.

We strive to build capacity, enhance science and data research support, foster research collaboration, share data and best practices, develop local science capability and strengthen national institutions, including through technology transfer on mutually agreed terms. We note with appreciation the essential coordination on sea level rise-related data provided by the United Nations specialized agencies, particularly the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. We call for improved tools for data coherence and uptake to overcome capacity constraints.

We must strengthen disaster risk reduction and build resilience through improved data availability, risk assessments, early warning systems, and long-term planning and adaptation for slow-onset processes. Sea level rise will exacerbate coastal risks, including storm surges and coastal flooding, underscoring the importance of investment and preparedness to build and maintain resilient societies. We will enhance anticipatory action, multi-hazard early warning systems and climate information systems and integrate all-hazard risk assessments into planning and decision-making frameworks, as appropriate.

We commit to strengthening coordinated scientific observation, data collection and modelling efforts, and call for greater recognition, collaboration and exchange of interoperable, accessible and sustained global data systems, including bathymetric, topographical and sea level data, cryospheric information, in situ observation and remote sensing, including satellite-based observation, and the Global Ocean Observing System and Global Sea Level Observing System.

adaptation, finance and resilience

There is urgent need to safeguard long-term habitability, livelihoods and critical infrastructure, including through enhanced public and private finance in line with relevant legal instruments, intergovernmental decisions and commitments. We emphasize the need for strengthened partnerships and cooperation to mobilize and provide financial, technical and policy support to address sea level rise for developing countries, particularly small island developing States and least developed countries. We call for scaled-up finance to localize action on sea level rise.

We call for expanded access to bilateral, regional and international finance and ensuring timely and predictable disbursement, as well as better coordination and effectiveness. We emphasize the importance of streamlined and simplified procedures and systems across relevant funds, as appropriate, to reduce barriers to access.

Nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches are essential to supporting adaptation to sea level rise. Habitat and biodiversity loss caused or exacerbated by sea level rise will disrupt coastal and marine ecosystems and impact marine resources, coastal food systems and fish stocks, particularly in areas already facing environmental stresses, such as harmful algal blooms and sargassum. Restoration and protection of mangroves, coral reefs, coastal wetlands, kelp forests and seagrass meadows can strengthen resilience while providing ecosystem services and co-benefits.

We recognize the need to integrate sea level rise projections into the planning, design, implementation and maintenance of critical coastal infrastructure to ensure its resilience, including ports, energy, transport, water systems, healthcare facilities, telecommunications, digital infrastructure and coastal protection measures, including land reclamation and elevation.

Pillar III: livelihoods, socioeconomic challenges, culture and heritage

Sea level rise has wide-ranging and multidimensional impacts, including floods, loss of land, salinization of arable land and surface and ground water, coastal erosion, increased risk of waterborne disease and permanent inundation. Aquatic food systems and sustainable ocean-based economic sectors, including tourism, transport, insurance markets and coastal infrastructure, are experiencing direct, cascading and downstream disruptions. We recognize the need to integrate these risks into social protection and national development planning, as appropriate, as well as the fundamental role of management tools, including sustainable ocean plans, marine spatial planning and integrated coastal zone management, in supporting sustainable ocean-based economic growth. We underline the importance of interlinkages between the ocean, climate and biodiversity.

We underscore that sea level rise exacerbates natural hazards, disaster risks and vulnerabilities, with implications for the economic, environmental and social aspects of development. For certain populations, it may pose existential threats to their livelihoods, cultures, communities and ways of life. We emphasize the importance of supporting voluntary choices for communities affected by sea level rise and mobility with dignity, in agreement with relevant States where it involves international movement and consistent with international law.

We stress our responses should ensure all people, including women and girls, children and youth, persons with disabilities, people in vulnerable situations, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, are fully and meaningfully empowered and included in decision-making as appropriate. We call upon States to promote awareness and education campaigns at local, national, regional and international levels to inform the public about sea level rise and its causes, as appropriate.

Sea level rise impacts culture and cultural heritage, including the loss of access to physical sites, living heritage, traditional lands, burial grounds, underwater cultural heritage, archaeological and sacred sites, and culturally significant coastal landscapes. Protection, preservation and documentation of cultural heritage is a priority, including through digitization.

legal dimensions of sea level rise

International law provides the foundation for action on sea level rise, and we underscore the need for legal stability, certainty and predictability.

We note the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, including in relation to sea level rise, as well as the final report of the Study Group of the International Law Commission on “Sea-level rise in relation to international law” and its valuable contribution to enhancing the understanding and clarification of issues of international law arising in connection with sea level rise.

⁶A/79/979.

We stress the need for stability of maritime zones in response to physical changes resulting from sea level rise. Once established in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, we affirm that States can accordingly maintain their maritime zones in the face of physical changes resulting from sea level rise, without prejudice to the State’s ability to update them. We encourage the provision of relevant technical support to assist States to finalize their baselines under the Convention.

We recall that once a State is established, the disappearance of one of its constituent elements would not necessarily entail the loss of its statehood. We affirm the presumption in favour of continued statehood, and in this respect we underscore the continuity of statehood in the face of sea level rise, as well as sovereignty, sovereign rights and responsibilities, and membership of the United Nations of such States, consistent with international law. We call for international support for States facing land territory changes due to sea level rise to continue to maintain institutional functions.

In the context of the protection of persons affected by sea level rise, we emphasize the need for States to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. We also encourage strengthened international cooperation to assist persons affected by sea level rise.

Implementation and review

Sea level rise is a global issue and common concern of humankind. We emphasize the importance of coherence and complementarity among intergovernmental processes, forums and organizations within their respective competencies. We call for strengthening multilateral cooperation, system-wide coordination, including by leveraging relevant specialized agencies, funds and programmes, and enhancing coherence to strengthen the effectiveness and delivery of the United Nations system.

We encourage ongoing dialogue on sea level rise at the highest possible level and aim to implement practical follow-up and review. We encourage the mainstreaming of sea level rise into all relevant processes, as appropriate. We decide to convene a further high-level meeting on sea level rise before the end of the eighty-fourth session of the General Assembly, the scope and modalities of which shall be decided no later than at the eighty-third session of the Assembly.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

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