The high-level meeting will comprise an opening segment, a plenary segment, four multi-stakeholder thematic panel discussions and a brief closing segment. The opening segment will feature statements by the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session, the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session, and a representative of a Member State affected by adverse effects of sea-level rise. The plenary segment will comprise statements by Member States and Observers of the General Assembly of the United Nations and members of the United Nations specialized agencies. The closing segment will comprise summaries of the multi-stakeholder thematic panel discussions presented by the co-chairs of the panels and concluding remarks by the President of the General Assembly.

The four multi-stakeholder thematic panel discussions will be held consecutively, in parallel to the plenary segment. Each of the four multi-stakeholder panel discussions will be co-chaired by two representatives, one from a developing country and one from a developed country to be appointed by the President of the General Assembly from among the representatives attending the high-level meeting, in consultation with Member States, taking into account gender balance, and geographical representation. Summaries of the discussions will be presented by the co-chairs of the panels in the closing segment.