On October 25, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, gave an intervention during the Sixth Committee deliberations of the Seventy-third Session of the General Assembly on Agenda item 82, dedicated to the “Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventieth session (Cluster I).”

In his statement, Archbishop Auza said that the global rise in sea-level, which will directly affect more than 70 States, is a major challenge that requires a global response with an integrated ethical approach. An integral ecology must balance, he said, marine and coastal ecosystems as well as the men and women who rely on them, in the present and the future. He welcomed the decision of the International Law Commission to consider the international legal implications of sea-level rise in terms of law of the sea, statehood, human rights and human migration and encouraged it to prioritize the question of the legal protection of migrants and internally displaced persons, which would fill a lacuna in international law and better prepare States, communities directly concerned, and the international community to face this challenge.

His statement can be found here.