Port lympia, Nice, France
Mr. Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice,
Distinguished Mayors from different cities around the world,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
It is an honor to join you in Nice, where the beauty of land meeting sea inspires our urgent action.
My sincere thanks to the City of Nice for convening this important summit and for the generous hospitality.
On behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General, I bring a message of urgency and commitment.
The climate crisis is a coastal crisis. Sea level rise is accelerating¡ªfaster now than in the past 3,000 years.
Globally, 900 million people ¡ª one in ten ¡ª live in low-lying coastal zones. Their lives and livelihoods are increasingly precarious.
Communities face increasing threats of inundation. Freshwater sources are compromised. Economies are disrupted. Biodiversity is vanishing at alarming rates.
Without immediate, scaled-up action, nearly 14 trillion US dollars in coastal infrastructure is at risk by 2100.
The presence of His Excellency the Prime Minister of Tuvalu¡ªa country facing this very existential threat, and the Mayor of New Orleans¡ªa city scarred by rising waters, powerfully underscores our shared vulnerability. While the Global South disproportionately bears the burden, no coastline is immune.
As the Secretary-General of the SIDS4 Conference, and in my current role as Secretary-General of the Third UN Ocean Conference, the ocean and the threat of sea level rise are close to my heart.
Effective coastal resilience demands meticulous planning, robust financing, and diligent implementation¡ªall grounded in science and local wisdom. Â鶹´«Ã½ remains fully committed to supporting vulnerable communities to achieve this.
The Secretary-General¡¯s Early Warning for All initiative is progressing, aiming to protect every person on earth with an alert system by 2027.
We also see inspiring progress in implementing the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS ¡ª a testament to what focused efforts can achieve.
The UN Ocean Conference, opening in just two days, will galvanize global actions on regional cooperation, the critical ocean-climate-biodiversity interlinkages, and centrally, coastal resilience.
Momentum is also building for the International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), focusing on scaling up finance from all sources¡ªpublic, private, multilateral, and through innovative mechanisms for sustainable development.
Excellencies,
From Nice to New Orleans, from Jakarta to Suva, from Shanghai to El Bosque¡ªcoastal cities are the front lines of this rising threat. You are leading the charge -- building sea walls, restoring mangroves, elevating land, and safeguarding communities. These vital efforts demand our full support with the necessary tools and financing.
In this spirit, I commend the Mayor of Nice for his visionary leadership in launching the Ocean Rise and Coastal Resilience Coalition.
This coalition is a timely call to strengthen cooperation before the window to act against irreversible impacts closes.
Its five pillars¡ªmobilizing leadership, sharing knowledge, unlocking finance, building capacity, and amplifying coastal voices in international governance¡ªprovide a robust framework for collective action.
Â鶹´«Ã½ proudly supports this initiative and its core values.
UNOC3 must be a turning point, where all actors accelerate efforts towards a sustainable ocean future.
Let us meet this rising tide with unwavering courage, unified cooperation, and the profound urgency this moment demands.
Thank you.