On February 14, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, warned the Security Council of the risk of an exodus on a “biblical” scale due to the rise in sea level caused by global warming. .
The danger is especially acute for the nearly 900 million people who live in low-lying coastal areas, or one in ten people on Earth.
The consequences are unthinkable
According to Guterres, low-lying communities and entire countries could disappear, the world would witness “a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale” and competition for fresh water, land and other resources would become increasingly fierce.
Similarly, Guterres indicated that even if the world managed to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 °C by the end of the century, the sea level would rise considerably. However, if the temperature were to increase by 2°C, the elevation of the water would double. Whatever the case, many countries and metropolises are at risk.
Our world is rapidly exceeding the 1.5°C warming limit required for a livable future and, with current policies, it is approaching 2.8°C, a death sentence for vulnerable countries.
Countries like Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands are at risk, while “megacities on all continents will face severe impacts” such as Cairo, Lagos, Maputo, Bangkok, Dhaka, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, Copenhagen, London , Los Angeles, New York, Buenos Aires and Santiago.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), between 1900 and 2018, sea level rose between 15 and 25 cm and is projected to rise another 43 cm by 2100 in a world at + 2°C compared to the pre-industrial era, but 84cm in a world at +3°C or +4°C.
The rise of the waters, beyond the subsidence of certain areas, is accompanied by an increase in storms and the subsidence of the waves: the water and the land are contaminated with salt, making the territories, even before being submerged, uninhabitable.
In this context of people who will be affected by a mass exodus, the UN leader called for “filling the gaps” in international law, especially for refugees.
This must include refugee law. But also to offer solutions for the future of the States that will totally lose their terrestrial territory.
António Guterres, who has been trying to draw the world’s attention to the dangers of climate change to spur action, also considered that the Security Council has an essential role to play in addressing the devastating security challenges posed by rising levels of from sea.