Special Envoy for Climate Change, Sabra Ibrahim Noordeen met with several foreign diplomats and officials of multilateral agencies this week, in order to discuss the concerns of climate change in the Maldives and other related topics.

In the course of these meetings that were distributed within the week, Sabra had called out to lessen the amounts of harmful gases released into the atmosphere to minimize the changes it brings to the environment. She noted the financial and social difficulties faced in attempts to decrease the damage done to the environment of a small island nation such as the Maldives. Furthermore, Sabra noted that she aims to invest in solar power systems within the nation and hopes to establish a net reservoir for carbon emissions by 2030. Sabra also stated that she wishes to develop the talent of those interested in assisting the Maldives in facing global warming.

Thereby, in the meeting Sabra had with the High Commissioner of India to Maldives, Sunjay Sudhir, she had discussed what the two nations can do by joining hands to help the situation of the climate.  In her meeting with the United Nation Resident Coordinator for the Republic of Maldives, Catherine Haswell, she discussed the steps to be taken in order to reduce climate change and ways to develop the talent of those who wish to work against climate change.

In Sabra’s meeting with the High commissioner of Pakistan to Maldives, Vice Admiral Ather Mukhtar, she talked about the effects of climate change in both countries and the programs initiated to prevent changes brought to the environment. In her meeting with the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Maldives, Rear Admiral Mohammad Nazmul Hassan she discussed the matters that both nations need to prioritize in regards to climate change and about the climate vulnerable forum.

Furthermore, in Sabra’s meeting with the High Commissioner of Japan to the Maldives, Keiko Yanai and Japanese International Cooperation Agency’s representative, she highlighted that Japan had extended their services in helping the Maldives keep its environment safe and thanked them. In the meeting she had with China’s Chargé d’Affaires Minister Yang Xiaoguang, Sabra highlighted the help Maldives received from China and discussed what both parties could do in order to establish an environmentally friendly atmosphere in China.

Moreover, in the meeting Sabra had with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP’s) Resident Representative, Vera Hakim, she shed light on the works UNDP is conducting in relation to the environment.

Declaring a climate emergency is an action that plays a big role in the Maldives political history. According to the report published by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last Monday, the whole world is facing issues in relation to environmental changes and the report proved that the amount of carbon emissions released to the atmosphere need to be decreased in order to maintain the world’s temperature at 1.5 degrees Celsius.