The leaders of the Pacific Islands, including the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand, Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern, have agreed to set up permanent maritime borders as the islands continue to shrink amid rising sea levels.
In a declaration on August 6 at the 51st Pacific Islands Forum, 18 member countries and territories affirmed that after the maritime zones are established and notified to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, they would remain fixed irrespective of changes to the shape and size of the islands.
The declaration stated, “We intend to maintain these zones without reduction, notwithstanding climate change-related sea-level rise. [We] further declare that we do not intend to review and update the baselines and outer limits of our maritime zones as a consequence of climate change-related sea-level rise.”
The decision follows a resolution by the Pacific leaders a year ago to address climate change and rising sea levels. The resolution called for immediate and unified action to secure maritime zones of member nations according to the international law of the sea.
Under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS), maritime zones are drawn using baselines, which begin at the low-water line along a nation’s coast. However, due to sea-level rise, the shape and size of some islands have shifted.
Climate policy expert and a research fellow at the Pacific Hub, Griffith Asia Institute, Dr Wesley Morgan, said, “Pacific countries have led the global conversation on this for some time now. They have been defining their maritime boundary demarcations using global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, rather than the distance from coastal features because they know those coastal features will erode due to the climate crisis.”
Morgan added, “This declaration helps to protect Pacific sovereignty and their rightful ocean domain. Pacific island countries have led global diplomacy on oceans for decades. So this declaration continues to lead and shape the global discussion. It is an important diplomatic signal from all of the member states of the Pacific Islands Forum. They are telling the rest of the world that they will not let their sovereign maritime rights being eroded by climate change.”
Meanwhile, Henry Puna, the Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum, said the leaders bolstered their commitment to maritime zones with the declaration and called it “a strong and decisive step in efforts to secure our Blue Pacific home now and into perpetuity.”
Earlier this week, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its latest report, confirmed the threat to shorelines due to climate-related rising sea levels. The report stated that the earth is warming up faster than expected and warned nations of climate catastrophes, including wildfires, droughts, heatwaves, and floods. It also mentioned that rising sea levels would cause shorelines to retreat, posing an existential threat to low lying atoll nations.
Leaders of Pacific Islands Forum Discuss Maritime Zones and Sea-Level Rise
The leaders of the Pacific Islands expressed concern over receding island shorelines due to rising sea levels and decided to set up permanent maritime borders.
August 13, 2021
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN