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The monthly magazine, September 2026 · Global Affairs and International Relations › Global regimes and issues › Law of the sea · Mains

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Global Affairs and International Relations › Global regimes and issues

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Law of the sea

The law of the sea: maritime zones, rights and disputes.

Showing 1 of 1 article, those that changed from 1 to 30 September 2026.Show all

The UN declaration on sea level rise and statehood

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Prelims and Mains

LeadRising seas and statehood: the UN declarationSeptember 2026

Why in news

On 24 September 2026 the United Nations General Assembly adopted its first declaration on sea level rise, and agreed to hold another high level meeting by September 2030.

  • 4.7 mm a yearglobal rate of sea level rise, 2015 to 2024
  • 2.1 mm a yearthe rate in 1993 to 2002
  • 11,098 kmIndia's coastline
  • 1,298India's offshore islands
  • about a thirdof India's mainland shore that eroded between 1990 and 2016

Background

  • The sea rises for two reasons, melting ice and the thermal expansion of warming water, and it is measured by satellite altimetry together with tide gauges.
  • The Montevideo Convention, 1933 says a State needs a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with other States.

What the declaration settles

  • It affirms a presumption of continued statehood: losing territory to the sea does not end a State's existence, its sovereignty or its seat at the United Nations.
  • Maritime boundaries stay fixed, so the 12 nautical mile territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone of about 370 km do not shrink as the coast retreats.

India's stake

  • India backed fixed boundaries abroad, and it has its own exposure in 1,298 offshore islands and a coastline of 11,098 km.
  • The National Centre for Coastal Research found about a third of the mainland shore eroding between 1990 and 2016, and over 170 km in West Bengal is retreating by more than 5 m a year.

The gap at home

  • The Coastal Regulation Zone notification of 2019 measures its no build strip, of 50 m or 200 m, from today's high tide line.
  • The Survey of India's hazard line does account for sea level rise and shoreline change, but it is used only for disaster and land use planning.
  • India has no law for people displaced slowly by erosion, of the kind Fiji passed in 2021.

Two lines on India's coast

High tide lineHazard line
What it istoday's high tide linea line mapped by the Survey of India
Accounts for sea level risenoyes
Used forthe no build strip of 50 m or 200 mdisaster and land use planning only
The rule that restricts building uses the line that does not move with the sea.Source: The Indian Express, 30 September 2026

The way forward

  • Measure the no build strip from the hazard line, so that the rule moves with the shore.
  • Legislate for people displaced slowly by erosion, as Fiji did in 2021.
  • Press for adaptation finance for coasts that are already eroding.

Prelims facts

  • The declaration was adopted by the General Assembly on 24 September 2026.
  • The four Montevideo criteria: population, territory, government, capacity for relations.
  • The hazard line is mapped by the Survey of India; the high tide line is what the coastal zone rules use.
  • Sea level is measured by satellite altimetry and tide gauges.

Open the lead on its own page

The United Nations General Assembly's declaration on sea level rise affirms that a State remains a State even if the sea takes its land, and that its maritime boundaries stay where they were fixed.

  • It answers a gap in older law: the Montevideo Convention of 1933 lists a defined territory among the four marks of a State, and the zones of the sea are measured from the coast.
  • For India the issue is domestic as much as diplomatic, since about a third of its mainland shore is eroding.

What changed

  1. 30 Sep 2026LeadRising seas and statehood: the UN declaration

UPSC has asked

  • Mains 2025: how climate change and sea level rise threaten the existence of island nations

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