NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres sounded the alarm on the escalating threat of rising sea levels, which endanger the very existence of Pacific island nations. Speaking at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga’s capital, Guterres emphasized the severe consequences of climate change, warning that the ocean is transforming from a source of life into a looming threat.
“This is a crazy situation,” Guterres stated. “Rising seas are a crisis entirely of humanity’s making—a crisis that will soon swell to an almost unimaginable scale, with no lifeboat to take us back to safety. A worldwide catastrophe is putting this Pacific paradise in peril. The ocean is overflowing.”
Guterres’ visit to Samoa and Tonga underscored the urgent need for global action as the Southwestern Pacific faces not only rising seas but also ocean acidification and marine heatwaves. A report commissioned by his office revealed that sea levels in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, have risen by 21 centimeters (8.3 inches) between 1990 and 2020, more than double the global average. In Samoa’s capital, Apia, sea levels have risen by 31 centimeters (1 foot), while Suva-B, Fiji, has experienced a 29-centimeter (11.4-inch) increase.
“This puts Pacific Island nations in grave danger,” Guterres warned, noting that about 90% of the region’s population lives within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the rising oceans. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also reported alarming increases in coastal flooding across the Pacific, including a jump from twice a year to 22 times a year in Guam, and from zero to 102 times a year in Pago Pago, American Samoa.
Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO, highlighted the dramatic shift, stating, “Because of sea level rise, the ocean is transforming from being a lifelong friend into a growing threat.” UN officials explained that the western tropical Pacific is seeing faster sea level rise due to factors such as melting ice from western Antarctica, warmer waters, and ocean currents.
During his address, Guterres called on richer nations to step up their efforts in reducing carbon emissions, ending fossil fuel use, and supporting vulnerable countries. He pointed out that while Pacific island nations contribute only 0.2% of the heat-trapping gases causing climate change, they are among the hardest hit by its effects. “They have a moral authority to ask those that are accelerating sea level rise to reverse these trends,” Guterres asserted.
The UN’s report also noted that the global rate of sea level rise has accelerated, now rising at the fastest rate in 3,000 years. From 1901 to 1971, the global average sea level rise was 1.3 centimeters per decade. This increased to 1.9 centimeters per decade between 1971 and 2006, and to 3.7 centimeters per decade between 2006 and 2018. The last decade alone has seen a rise of 4.8 centimeters (1.9 inches).
As Guterres met with Pacific leaders to discuss the environment, hundreds of local high school students and activists from across the Pacific marched nearby, demanding climate justice. One marcher, Itinterunga Rae of the Barnaban Human Rights Defenders Network, spoke out against the idea of relocating Pacific islanders due to environmental degradation. “We promote climate mobility as a solution to be safe from your island that’s been destroyed by climate change, but it’s not the safest option,” Rae said, emphasizing the loss of cultural and heritage connections for displaced communities.
With the United Nations General Assembly set to hold a special session on rising seas next month, Guterres urged Pacific island nations to “speak loud and clear,” leveraging their unique position to advocate for urgent global climate action.
