New York, 23 September 2024

Climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security, and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific.  Climate change-related sea-level rise is one of the starkest manifestations of that threat, particularly in small island states.

Climate change-related sea-level rise poses severe and potentially irreversible threats of a physical nature to the Pacific SIDS and other SIDS throughout the world. It is clear, however, that under international law, such sea-level rise does not pose a threat to the continuity of the statehood and sovereignty of any State once established.  It is also clear under international law, that the rights and duties inherent to such statehood and sovereignty will be maintained notwithstanding the impacts of climate change-related sea-level rise.

This view has been championed by AOSIS Members in interventions at the UN level over the last several years. It has been memorialized in a 2023 Declaration of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, and it now forms the core of the Declaration on Sea-Level Rise and Statehood that we are about to adopt today.

This is a clear example of the strong, principled, and innovative leadership on climate change issues that is the hallmark of AOSIS.  We are using the widest range of tools possible – including international law – to advance our core interests, protect our rights and entitlements, and underscore our resilience as SIDS in the face of climate change and sea-level rise.  The international community has heard us loud and clear in recent years on the legal dimensions of climate change-related sea-level rise.  The Declaration we adopt today will be our loudest and most impactful pronouncement yet on the matter.  Let’s keep moving forward, for the sake of our present and future generations.

Thank you.