Member States agree their first joint declaration on sea level rise as coastal cities raise defences

29 October 2026

United Nations Member States have adopted a Declaration on Sea Level Rise, the first text on the subject that all of them have agreed to.
The declaration asks for adaptation and resilience funding that is more predictable and easier to reach, especially for small island states and least developed countries.
The World Meteorological Organization reports that the rate of global sea level rise has nearly doubled since satellite measurement began in 1993.
A recent United Nations report finds that about 770 million people, close to a tenth of the world's population, live in coastal land less than five metres above high tide.
New York City offers a working example of adaptation. Its East Side Coastal Resiliency project lifts a riverside park by up to three metres and hides a floodwall inside it.
The scheme runs along more than five kilometres of waterfront, plans eighteen floodgates, protects more than 110,000 residents and is due to be finished in 2027.
It was begun after a hurricane in 2012 killed 44 people in the city and caused damage of about nineteen billion dollars.