NEW YORK, OCTOBER 18 – Rising sea levels constitute a risk for international peace and security because they put at risk the very survival of some Small Island States and would have, for other countries, a dramatic impact on their territory, triggering massive human flows, the Italian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Stefano Stefanile, told a Security Council meeting convened by the rotating presidency of Vietnam less than two weeks ahead of the Glasgow CoP 26 on climate change.
Italy deems therefore important that the issue, and the overall security implications of climate change, be taken into due consideration by the Security Council in the context of its analysis and deliberations, especially with regard to the dimension of regional stability, said Stefanile, adding that, from a legal perspective, the issue of sea level rise requires a rules-based approach. In this respect, Italy welcomes the contribution of the International Law Commission on sea-level rise and statehood and on sea-level rise and the protection of persons.
The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate projected that by 2050, nearly one billion people will live in low-lying coastal zones threatened by rising seas. According to many experts sea-level rise might have a much deeper impact than drought and desertification on peace and security. States such as Bangladesh and other countries with large deltas risk substantial loss of densely populated land. Low-lying atoll States may even lose most of their territory and thus of their people who have to move abroad. Such large-scale losses certainly affect the overall governance capacity of such countries.
“The most effective way to address the sea-level rise and its disastrous effects is, however, to accelerate and drastically elevate the ambition of international climate action on all fronts: mitigation, adaptation and finance”, said the Italian delegate: Italy is strongly engaged in these efforts, this year also through its Presidency of the G20 and its partnership with the United Kingdom for CoP26. “We are also among the most active supporters of Small Island Developing States, having developed specific partnerships in the field of sustainable development with the Pacific SIDS and the CARICOM Countries”, added Stefanile. (@OnuItalia)
