LIVE: World leaders tackle sea level rise, a stark marker of climate change

Aerial view of a sand replenishment project in Tuvalu to combat coastal erosion, showing a dredging vessel and new sand deposits along the shoreline.
© UNDP/TCAP
Home to around half of Tuvalu’s 12,000 people, Fogafale Island is vulnerable to the adverse impacts of flooding, shoreline erosion and rising sea levels along the southern lagoon coast.
  • UN News

Sea level rise is among the most visible consequences of global warming, but for some countries, it is an imminent existential threat. World leaders are meeting Thursday to approve a new declaration and debate the best ways to strengthen international cooperation and support vulnerable low-lying nations most at risk.

What you need to know:

  • World leaders are expected to approve the UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise, which Member States finalised last month
  • The global mean sea level is on the rise around the world and accelerating, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
  • 770 million people live in coastal areas affected by sea level rise
  • Just a half-metre rise in sea levels by the end of the century could force between 150 million and 300 million people from their homes
  • Some small island States are already planning to be swallowed by the sea, with Tuvalu transitioning to become the world’s first “digital nation”
  • Nations contributing least to such climate change consequences as sea level rise are facing the worst impact

Watch live on UN Web TV:

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