There are moments in history when a crisis long treated as distant reveals itself to be intimate, immediate and profoundly human. Sea-level rise is one of those moments.<\/p>\n
For years it has been discussed in the abstract language of centimetres, coastal infrastructure and future projections. This can make it seem like a technical challenge \u2013 something for engineers and planners to grapple with. But rising seas are already damaging bodies, minds, livelihoods and cultures. Sea-level rise<\/a> is a present-day health crisis.<\/p>\n When saltwater intrudes into freshwater supplies, health suffers<\/a>. When floods overwhelm sanitation systems, diseases spread. When farmland is inundated by king tides, nutrition deteriorates. And when people are forced to contemplate leaving the land of their ancestors, they face a painful mix of physical, financial, emotional, cultural and spiritual harm.<\/p>\n The effect of sea-level rise on property lines and insurance procurement is clear. But what is being lost goes far deeper \u2013 it\u2019s safety, dignity, continuity and belonging. Across low-lying coastal regions and small island states, including throughout the Pacific, communities are living with this reality today. For Indigenous peoples<\/a> especially, land is identity, memory, law, kinship, sustenance today and connection to a shared future.<\/p>\n Those facing the earliest and harshest consequences are, overwhelmingly, those who did the least to create them. Today sea levels are now rising rapidly in a world already shaped by inequality, colonialism and economic exclusion. We cannot allow those unjust legacies to deepen on our watch.<\/p>\n I\u2019m encouraged therefore that we are beginning to name this crisis and its interconnections more clearly. The Lancet Commission on Sea-Level Rise, Health and Justice, newly announced<\/a>, is bringing together expertise across disciplines and regions, and supported by the World Health Organization Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health, to show how health, justice and climate impacts are inseparable. The rigour in their planned research will help us see what has too often been ignored \u2013 and what governments, communities and institutions can do in response.<\/p>\n The commission\u2019s focus reminds me of conversations I had in Vanuatu with the climate activist and youth leader Litiana Kalsrap<\/a>. Coastal erosion and sea-level rise are a huge threat in Vanuatu. Despite funding cuts, Kalsrap remains determined to inform the community about what\u2019s happening, and to lead mangrove- and grass-planting efforts to help stabilise the land.<\/p>\n I found her dedication and spirit in the face of this threat truly inspirational. I saw that through her efforts something that began as a rehabilitation project for a specific area had become much bigger: it was a source of personal resilience, community building and connection.<\/p>\n