At the 32nd meeting of the Sixth Committee, in the debate on Cluster I of the Report of the International Law Commission (agenda item 78), H.E. Mrs. Janine Coye-Felson, Permanent Representative of Belize, delivered Belize’s statement. Belize aligned itself with the statement of the Alliance of Small Island States. It welcomed the Final Report of the Commission’s Study Group on sea-level rise in relation to international law, and thanked the Commission and the Study Group’s Co-Chairs for six years of careful, consultative work.
Belize stressed that, for small island and low-lying coastal developing States, legal clarity on sea-level rise bears directly on their security, their statehood and the protection of their people. “The sea is not merely approaching our doorsteps; it is already there.” Belize reaffirmed the AOSIS position, which the Report’s conclusions confirm. First, maritime zones established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the rights that flow from them, continue to apply without reduction, notwithstanding physical changes caused by sea-level rise. Second, statehood and sovereignty continue.
Belize noted two developments that reinforce these conclusions. The first is the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion of 23 July 2025, including its confirmation that the principle of non-refoulement applies where climate change poses a real risk of irreparable harm to the right to life. The second is the United Nations Declaration on Sea-Level Rise, adopted by consensus.
Belize called for further clarification in two areas. The first is the protection of persons, including the respective obligations of affected and host States. The second is the content of the duty to cooperate, including technical, financial and capacity support. It joined the Pacific Small Island Developing States in calling on the Sixth Committee to continue its consideration of the legal aspects of sea-level rise at the eighty-second session.