At a press conference in the capital Nuku’alofa, Mr Guterres called on world leaders to drastically reduce global emissions, rapidly phase out fossil fuels and massively increase investment in climate adaptation to protect people from current and future risks.
“This is an insane situation: rising sea levels are a crisis entirely caused by mankind. A crisis that will soon grow to an almost unimaginable scale, with no lifeboat to bring us back to safety.,” He warned.
“But if we save the pacific we save ourselvesThe world must take action and respond to the SOS before it is too late.”
Unprecedented sea level rise
The UN chief said global average sea levels are rising at a rate not seen in the past 3,000 years.
“The reason is clear: Greenhouse gases – overwhelmingly generated by the burning of fossil fuels – are cooking our planet. And the sea is soaking up the heat – literally,” he continued.
Seas have absorbed more than 90 percent of global warming over the past five decades. Water expands as it warms, and melting glaciers and ice caps have increased the volume of the sea, causing the ocean to overflow.
Ocean changes are accelerating
Meanwhile, two UN documents that day “brought the situation into sharp focus,” he said.
The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) on the Climate status in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, alongside a report from the UN Climate Action Team on Rising seas in a warming world“show that Accelerating ocean changes with devastating consequences.”
Together, they outline how monthly sea temperatures continue to break records. At the same time, maritime heatwaves have become more intense and longer-lasting, doubling in frequency since 1980, while rising sea levels are increasing the frequency and severity of storm surges and coastal flooding.
Pacific Islands ‘uniquely exposed’
“Today’s reports confirm that relative sea level in the southwestern Pacific has risen even more than the global average – in some locations by more than double the global rate of rise over the past 30 years,” the Secretary-General said.
He explained that “Pacific islands are uniquely exposed” because their average elevation is only one to two meters above sea level, about 90 percent of people live within five kilometers of the coast and half of all infrastructure is within 500 meters of the sea.
“Without drastic cuts in emissions, Pacific Islands could see at least another 6 inches (15 centimeters) of sea level rise by mid-century“And in some places, there is coastal flooding more than 30 days a year,” he said.
© UNICEF/Lasse Bak Mejlvang
Workers build barriers to prevent sea erosion along the Tuvalu coastline.
The reports found that the average rate of sea level rise has more than doubled since the 1990s, suggesting that “the phenomenon is accelerating in an unusual and uncontrolled manner.”
While global sea levels have risen by an average of more than 10 centimetres since 1993, the situation in the Pacific Ocean is even worse, with some places seeing rises of more than 15 centimetres.
He pointed to emerging science suggesting that a two degree Celsius rise in global temperatures above pre-industrial levels could potentially lead to the collapse of both the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, essentially “condemning future generations to an unstoppable sea level rise of up to 20 metres – over a period of millennia.”
‘The raging sea is coming towards us all’
The world is currently on a course for a temperature increase of three degrees above pre-industrial levels. That means sea levels will rise much faster, which would spell disaster for Tonga and beyond.
“The raging seas are coming for all of us – along with the devastation of fisheries, tourism and the blue economy,” said the Secretary-General.
He recalled that about one billion people worldwide live in coastal areas, including “coastal megacities” such as Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka; Los Angeles in the United States; Mumbai in India; Lagos in Nigeria and Shanghai in China.
According to him, rising sea levels will lead to an increase in coastal flooding and other extreme events. A temperature increase of 2.5 degrees could increase the frequency from once every 100 years to once every five years by the end of the century.
Without new adaptation and protection measures, economic damage could run into trillions of dollars, he added, urging world leaders to act now.
Reduce global emissions
Mr Guterres stressed the need to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, which means “cutting global emissions by 43 percent below 2019 levels by 2030, and by 60 percent by 2035.”
He called on governments to submit new national climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), by 2025, as promised at last year’s UN climate conference COP28 in Dubai.
Leaders must also put the world on track to phase out fossil fuels quickly and fairly, including ending new coal projects and new oil and gas expansions, he continued. This complements their commitment to triple renewable energy capacity, double energy efficiency and end deforestation by 2030.
Support vulnerable countries
The Secretary-General reiterated his long-standing call for the G20 countries, “the biggest emitters”, to play a leading role in these efforts.
“And the world needs to massively increase funding and support for vulnerable countries. We need an increase in funding to address rising sea levels,” he said.
Looking ahead to this year’s UN climate conference, he urged countries to “boost innovative financing.” Wealthier countries must also make good on their pledges, including doubling adaptation finance to at least $40 billion a year by 2025.
On climate justice, he also stressed the need for “significant contributions” to the new Loss and Damage Fund to support Pacific Islanders and other vulnerable countries.
This also applies to initiatives announced during the latest Pacific Islands Forum, which started on Monday in Tonga.
“Finally, we need to protect every person on Earth with an early warning system by 2027,” he said. “That means building countries’ data capacity to improve decision-making on adaptation and coastal planning.”
Mr Guterres was the first to announce the Early warnings for everyone initiative in March 2022, which aims to ensure that these life-saving systems are available everywhere in the world by the end of 2027.
