IUCN updated policy brief - Sea Level Rise

IUCN's Director General partecipated as a panelist in the High-level plenary meeting on addressing the existential threats posed by sea level rise at the UNGA 79 High-level week. Following the high-level meeting, the General Assembly in its decision 78/558 mandated a high level meeting in the 81st session of the GA with a negotiated outcome - where IUCN will continue to engage. 

The key messages in the brief are: 

• All stakeholders need to work together to strengthen global knowledge systems and science–policy interfaces to guide equitable and effective sea level rise (SLR) responses. States should expand interoperable monitoring systems, integrate ecological, cultural, and socioeconomic data into SLR modelling, and reinforce national science–policy platforms that bring together climate scientists, ocean experts, cultural heritage authorities, Indigenous leaders, and planners.
• Member States should increase financial and technical support to Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) and low-lying developing countries, ensure community-centred and nature-sensitive adaptation, and significantly expand investment in high-integrity Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
• Cultural heritage—tangible and intangible—must be recognized as highly vulnerable capital and fully integrated into SLR strategies, with strong protections for the rights and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
• States must uphold and operationalize existing international legal obligations to protect people and the marine environment. States must therefore integrate human rights obligations into climate decision‑making and fulfil their duties under UNCLOS, the BBNJ Agreement, the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement, human rights law, and customary international law.