President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has called for intensive efforts to conserve the nature and protect the environment, at a national level.

He made this appeal in his statement to commemorate the World Environment Day, marked across the globe on Sunday.

Stressing that the low-lying archipelago country faces the threat of increased weather events brought on by climate change, President Solih noted that “bold” and “urgent” climate action is crucial to ensure humanity’s survival.

The president went on to urge increased national-level efforts to protect the coral reefs, beaches, oceans and vegetation while promoting sustainable development across the island nation.

Noting that climate advocacy is one of the “strongest” topics being debated across the globe currently, with the Maldives being one of the key voices for climate action, the president emphasized that taking immediate action to protect the planet is the responsibility of every human being, as no nation is immune to climate change.

He went on to speak regarding global warming, warning that global temperatures are rising at an alarming rate.

President Solih stressed that adapting to such unprecedented levels of global warming would be “near impossible”.

Further, shedding light on technological advances including clean energy technologies, President Solih noted that concerted action is crucial on the international and national level, regardless of the size of the country.

The Maldivian president also described the role of youth communities in climate advocacy, to be essential to promote environmentally-friendly and sustainable lifestyles.  

Stressing on the urgency to phase out single-use plastics and adopt cleaner energy sources to achieve the island nation’s target of net-zero emissions by 2030, the president stressed on the significance of isolating waste at the source and ensuring more areas of our natural environment are protected.