International Law and Sea Level Rise (original) (raw)

As indicated above, it was new scientific evidence and findings that prompted the establishment of the Committee in 2012. These include in particular the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concerning the trends in sea level change during the course of 20 th century and the first decade of the 21 st century, as well as its projections for further sea level rise. At the time of the establishment of this Committee in 2012, the IPCC had issued four assessment reports, the last of which was then published in 2007. 11 The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) 12 of 2013/14, issued soon after this Committee was established, was the first to reverse a trend of successive reductions in the upper end of projections for 2100 in the previous IPCC reports. With an upper end prediction of 98 cm, 13 it is the second highest so far. Importantly, however, this prediction is based on major scientific advances since AR4, resulting in a better understanding of 20 th century sea level change and its 8 Baselines Committee Sofia Report (n. 3), at 424-425 (on-line, at 30-31); emphasis added.