Why it is in the news
On 24 September 2026, at a one-day high-level plenary meeting held during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA81) in New York, Member States approved by consensus the Declaration on Sea-Level Rise — the first UN-wide political declaration devoted to the phenomenon. It affirms a presumption in favour of continued statehood, so that low-lying states such as Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu keep their statehood, sovereign rights and UN membership even if territory is lost, and that maritime zones fixed under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) continue even as coastlines retreat. States also committed to another high-level meeting before the 84th session ends.
The exam angle
Issue: Rising seas threaten the territory, maritime entitlements and even the legal existence of low-lying States, while international law was built on the assumption of fixed coastlines and permanent territory.