Ian Borg At UN Security Council: 1 Billion People Will Be At Risk Of Rising Sea Levels By 2060
Malta’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg has warned of the severe risk millions around the world will face in the coming decades in the wake of rising sea levels and a changing climate.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council in New York, Borg, who chaired the event, spoke of the risks island-nations like Malta and other city states around the world face. His address comes as Malta’s Presidency of the UN Security Council is underway in earnest.
“While wars and conflict persist, we are now increasingly aware of other global challenges that may exacerbate insecurity if left unchecked,” Borg said in his address.
“The dire humanitarian consequences that could result from rising sea levels are no longer a discourse in rhetoric,” he continued.
“Science is already forecasting that up to one billion people will be at risk from coast-specific climate hazards by the year 2060, and hundreds of millions will be displaced by the year 2100. This pattern will only increase if no action is taken.”
“Ocean-related climate security risks are a daily reality for many countries, with such threats disproportionately affecting island states, small island developing states, coastal regions and low-lying cities, threatening their very existence.”
“Malta, as an island state, knows this reality all too well.”
A render of Gzira and Sliema with a 0.5m sea level rise by Saviour Formosa, University of Malta
National representatives from around the world raised their unique challenges, thanking Malta and Borg for raising this issue that is affecting their populations.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN, described the effects of climate change already seen around the world as “scenes we should only see in apocalypse movies.”
“The Security Council must take notice and take action,” she urged, recounting real situations from her home state of Louisiana where fishermen’s livelihoods are already been affected by a sea level rise of only two feet.
Other speakers recounted other scenes around the world, with some warning of “consequences of Biblical proportions” if proper mechanisms are not put in place to ward off any rising sea threats.
“Rising temperatures is a death sentence for vulnerable countries.”
Coral Pasisi, the Director of the Sustainable Pacific Consultancy, warned of the “disproportionate impact on women and children” that climate change will have.
Borg ended his speech by emphasising that Malta will continue to be focused on climate change, and specifically the threat of rising sea levels to small island nations.
“The political and security consequences of sea-level rises reflect a potentially catastrophic reality which if left unaddressed may lead to a completely different world than the one we currently live in,” he ended.
“In having spearheaded the UN Convention on the Law of Sea which to this day, remains the fundamental pillar that ensures peace and security at sea, Malta continues to be committed to ensuring that the voices of those States and peoples most affected by these threats are heard.”
Cover inset: Saviour Formosa, University of Malta
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