Jakarta, IO – Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi urged the international community to immediately take action to address the existential threat posed by sea level rise.
She conveyed this at the High-Level Meeting on Sea Level Rise on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly in New York.
She emphasized that the impact of rising sea levels is not only felt by coastal cities, but also by communities deep in the interior. This makes rising sea levels a global crisis that must be addressed immediately.
“Sea level rise is a wake-up call for the world. Don’t delay, act now to protect millions of lives and future generations,” said Retno, as per Kemlu.go.id, Thu (26/9).
Therefore, she called for a special global agenda on sea level rise and international legal framework to be strengthened while improving technology to find immediate solutions. She highlighted three issues.
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First, the need for urgent action to address global warming with fair burden sharing and not burden shifting. Second, strengthening international cooperation by emphasizing capacity building, technical assistance, and collective steps to mobilize resources, including financing and technology that can be accessed by all countries. Third, mustering global political will to address the impacts of sea level rise, such as loss of coastal land to disruption of livelihoods.
The meeting was attended by 128 countries to discuss joint efforts to tackle sea level rise, including through climate finance, sovereignty of the territory and boundaries of national maritime zones, and decision-making based on scientific data. (bp)