Maldives tells UN plenary on sea level rise that statehood and sovereignty cannot be put in doubt by rising water

24 September 2026

Vice President Uz Hussain Mohamed Latheef read out the Maldives Statement at a UN high-level plenary meeting on the existential threats that rising seas pose, convened during the 81st Session of the General Assembly. He opened by saying the reply to a rising ocean has to be resilience and never retreat. He reminded the gathering that the Maldives first brought the issue to the Assembly nearly four decades ago, which led to the Male Declaration on Global Warming and Sea Level Rise. He set out three priorities for the world to act on. The first is adaptation finance at scale, which he said must be predictable, accessible, grant-based and concessional for Small Island Developing States, and must arrive early enough to cut risk. He also pressed for a dedicated mechanism to observe sea level rise, arguing that what is not measured cannot be addressed. On law, he held that rising seas must not be allowed to undermine lawful baselines, sea zones or state entitlements, and that statehood, sovereignty and UN membership cannot be challenged even as geography changes.