UN Member States have finalized intergovernmental negotiations on a concise, action-oriented declaration on sea level rise. The declaration will be adopted at the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) high-level plenary meeting in September.
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) convened the first high-level meeting (HLM) to address existential threats posed by sea level rise on 25 September 2024. The goal of the meeting was to strengthen international cooperation and collective action to address sea level rise and to support developing countries, particularly climate-vulnerable ones, as well as coastal communities in building resilience and adapting to its consequences.
That same year, the Assembly decided to hold a one-day high-level plenary meeting during its 81st session to further consider sea level rise. It further decided that the meeting, scheduled for 24 September 2026, would result in a concise, action-oriented, and intergovernmentally negotiated declaration agreed by consensus.
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Permanent Representative of Australia James Martin Larsen and Permanent Representative of Cabo Verde Tania Serafim Yvonne Romualdo co-facilitated the intergovernmental process.
According to a letter from the co-facilitators dated 20 August 2026, informing about the completion of the negotiations, the draft declaration underwent a silence procedure and passed successfully.
The four-page declaration expresses deep concern about sea level rise and emphasizes the need to implement international law and to strengthen action to address it by protecting our shared environment. The declaration outlines four pillars of action:
- Knowledge, data, and science, informed by, among other sources, the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects;
- Adaptation, finance, and resilience, informed by, inter alia, nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches;
- Livelihoods, socioeconomic challenges, culture, and heritage, underlining the importance of interlinkages between the ocean, climate, and biodiversity; and
- Legal dimensions of sea level rise, noting the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of states with respect to climate change, including its findings on sea level rise, and the final report of the study group of the International Law Commission (ILC) on sea level rise in relation to international law.
The declaration encourages “ongoing dialogue on sea level rise at the highest possible level and aim[s] to implement practical follow-up and review.”
The declaration benefited from the results of a global online consultation that the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organized in March-April 2026 to gather inputs from stakeholders.
The UNGA’s HLM to address the existential threats posed by sea-level rise will take place in New York, US, on 24 September 2026. [Sea Level Rise Declaration 2026] [Letter from UNGA President Dated 20 August 2026]