Sea level rise a major security issue Niue climate expert tells UN

Rising seas pose "unthinkable" risks to billions around the world, with profound implications for security, international law, human rights and the very fabric of societies, the UN Security Council has been told.

Members have this week held their first-ever debate on the phenomenon's global implications.

The warning is nothing new to many Pacific countries among them Tuvalu which has for many years faced the prospect of their country's islands disappearing due to rising sea levels.

But Tuvalu's warnings at the UN's climate change summits have yet to be fully taken on board.

Addressing the Security Council was Coral Pasisi, Director of Climate Change of the Pacific Community and President of the non-governmental organisation, Tofia Niue.

She warned that, by 2050 - "within the lifetime of our children and grandchildren" - sea level rise will have exceeded at least one metre for most small island developing States, a shift that will last for thousands of years.

Listing severe impacts already facing communities today, from coral reef bleaching to salt water intrusion, she decried the international community's continued flouting of responsibility and impunity in failing to act to stop climate change.

"This is a security issue of paramount importance to the Pacific Region," she said, emphasising that the security fallout of unaddressed sea level rise will fall directly under the Council's remit.

She also expressed her hope that the General Assembly will soon adopt a resolution, put forward by Vanuatu, requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States vis-á-vis climate change.

Disappearing communities

"The impact of rising seas is already creating new sources of instability and conflict," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who opened the meeting.

Noting that some nations' coastlines have already been triple the average rate of sea level rise, he warned that, in the coming decades, low-lying communities - and entire countries - could disappear forever.

"We would witness a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale, and we would see ever-fiercer competition for fresh water, land and other resources," he warned.

Describing sea level rise as a threat multiplier, the Secretary-General said the phenomenon also jeopardises access to water, food and healthcare.

According to recently-released data from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), global average sea levels have risen faster since 1900 than over any preceding century in the last 3000 years.

It warns that, even if global warming is "miraculously" limited to 1.5 degrees, the planet will still see a sizeable rise in sea water levels.

Guterres warned the Security Council that, under any temperature rise scenario, countries from Bangladesh to China, India and the Netherlands will all be at risk.

The danger is especially acute for some 900 million people living in coastal zones at low elevations - one out of every ten people on earth.

Csaba Kőrösi, the President of the General Assembly, recalled that climate change - "the greatest challenge of our generation" - was the issue most raised by world leaders during the Assembly's last high-level debate.

Citing projections that between 250 and 400 million people will likely need new homes in new locations in fewer than 80 years, he also warned of devastating impacts for the world's "breadbaskets," especially fertile deltas along the Nile, Mekong and other rivers.