WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - World leaders approved a new declaration on Thursday to tackle rising sea levels.
The UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise, which Member States finalized last month, was adopted by the Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives at the General Assembly.
The new declaration was approved after debating the best ways to strengthen international cooperation and support vulnerable low-lying nations most at risk.
Sea level rise is among the most visible consequences of global warming, posing an imminent existential threat to some countries.
Sea levels are rising faster than ever and represent 'one of the most profound threats to populations around the world', according to a UN report presented at the UN Pacific Islands Forum in Palau.
The report, which examines the social, economic and legal consequences of rising sea levels, as well as ways to respond to them, was commissioned ahead of the UN high-level meeting on the topic.
'The sea level is rising. Our resilience, our financing and our ambition must rise faster,' warned Navid Hanif, head of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, stressing the urgent need to scale up a collective response.
The global mean sea level is on the rise around the world and accelerating, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
770 million people live in coastal areas affected by sea level rise.
It is estimated that just a half-meter rise in sea levels by the end of the century could force between 150 million and 300 million people from their homes.
Some small island States are already planning to be swallowed by the sea, with Tuvalu transitioning to become the world's first 'digital nation,' the UN said in a fact sheet.
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