Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu opened on Tuesday the online seminar organized by the Washington-based World Bank on the topic "Rising Sea Levels: Legal Implications and Challenges for Coastal and Island States", the Foreign Ministry informs in a release.
Aurescu participated in the event in a double capacity, as Foreign Affairs Minister of Romania and as a member, on Romania's behalf, of the UN International Law Commission (ILC), where he has serves as co-chair of the open-ended Study Group on "Sea-level rise in relation to international law", said the Romanian ministry.
In his introductory speech, Minister Aurescu emphasized the importance of the subject regarding the rising sea and ocean levels as an effect of climate change, both in terms of the impact of the phenomenon on international law and of the need to raise awareness of the requirement to protect the environment. He expressed Romania's commitment, at UN and multilateral level in general, to promoting this theme and to the efforts towards identifying the best solutions and approaches to climate change in general and to rising sea and ocean levels in particular.
The Romanian ForMin also highlighted the political implications of the rise in sea levels, taking into account the magnitude of the problem and the direct impact on many states, with consequences on their very existence.
"More than 70 states are likely to be directly affected by rising sea levels, which is more than a third of the international community. To these adds a significant number of states that could be indirectly affected. For this reason, the rising sea levels have become a global phenomenon that generates global problems, with impact on the international community as a whole. (...) Therefore, there is an urgent need for the international community to take action in order to manage this problem, to diminish its negative consequences and identify solutions," ForMin Aurescu said on this occasion.
He explained that this issue impacts aspects that are key for coastal regions and for coastal and island states, as well as for their population - this is about rights over maritime areas, their limits and access to resources out there. At the same time, it is essential to consider the potential impact on the existence of island states, in the event that the territory of a state would disappear due to rising sea levels, a fact that would directly affect its statehood and population.
"Romania has always shown solidarity with other states affected by climate change. Therefore, Romania strongly supports all efforts to identify solutions to these problems, at the level of the international community, including through the UN and international law," the Romanian top diplomat said.
In his capacity as a member of the UN International Law Commission and co-chair of the Study Group on "Sea-level rise in relation to international law", Bogdan Aurescu presented the main results of ILC's work on this subject, including in the context where the two co-chairs of the Study Group submitted to the Commission in February this year the first comprehensive report on law of the sea aspects related to rising sea and ocean levels.
The event organized by the World Bank was attended by experts of the institution and from the diplomatic, academic and civil society, as well as by ILC representatives.
Comentează