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Retno warns UNGA of potential uncertainties, conflicts from rising sea levels
Indonesia's top diplomat has cautioned delegates at the ongoing 78th UNGA that the world should prepare to anticipate potential geopolitical uncertainties and conflicts related to global sea level rise.
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Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi speaks during the Breakfast Summit on Addressing the Existential Threats Posed by Sea-Level Rise on Sept. 21, 2023, a side event at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. (-/Courtesy of the Foreign Ministry)
T
he rise in global sea levels induced by climate change would not only lead to natural disasters, and could also trigger geopolitical conflicts from changing coastal borders, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi told a side event on Thursday at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Retno conveyed her cautionary statement at the Breakfast Summit on Addressing the Existential Threats Posed by Sea-Level Rise during the UNGA in New York, the United States.
Rising sea levels would threaten lives and livelihoods as well as alter maritime boundaries, which might lead to geopolitical uncertainties and conflicts, said the country’s top diplomat.
“Therefore, we need to continue to encourage the use of international legal approach to safeguard state sovereignty, rights and livelihoods,” she told Thursday’s meeting, according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.
Retno also called on all nations to unite in mitigating and adapting to the potential threats of sea level rise by reducing emissions and helping to strengthen climate adaptation measures, particularly for coastal communities.
“The threat is real and imminent. It has already had an impact on island and archipelagic countries,” she said, according to the statement.
Separately, Retno invited island and archipelagic countries to strengthen cooperation on maritime issues during the high-level meeting at the 2023 Archipelagic and Island States Forum (AIS Forum), slated to be held on Oct. 11 in Bali.
