UNGA: High-Level Meeting on Sea Level Rise

On 25 September 2024, the UN General Assembly hosted a High-Level Meeting on Sea Level Rise, the first time there has been a high-level meeting of the UNGA to address the issue of sea level rise caused by climate change. Other equally important elements were covered, but here we note numerous statements addressed law of the sea aspects, including reaffirmation of support towards the preservation of maritime zones and statehood, notwithstanding impacts arising from climate change-related sea-level rise (e.g., USA, New Zealand and Singapore), as well as the long held awareness, significance and call for action on the issue by small island States (e.g., Maldives referencing the 1989 Male’ Declaration on Global Warming and Sea Level Rise).