President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has urged governments to take ambitious action to address the climate crisis.

The president made this appeal while delivering his keynote address at the side event "From Ambition to Practice: Advancing SIDS4 Goals Through the Climate Smart Resilient Island (CSRI) Initiative" at the Fourth International Conference on SIDS (SIDS) on Monday.

President Muizzu is in Antigua and Barbuda for the SIDS conference, taking place from May 27 – 30.

Delivering his keynote address, the Maldivian leader urged SIDS as well as regional and international stakeholders to explore collaborative partnerships to turn SIDS4's ambitious objectives into tangible climate action.

Noting that despite their small size SIDS demonstrate remarkable resilience and unwavering determination, President Muizzu stressed that continuing "business-as-usual" practices is not enough.

Further, he stated that the Climate Smart Resilient Island (CSRI) Initiative spearheaded by the Maldives is an initiative that connects SIDS and development partners for inter-regional collaboration, utilizing the unique geographies and streamlining development efforts through peer learning across island nations, to deliver a holistic approach to the adverse effects of climate change.

In conclusion he encouraged ways to help safeguard the future of SIDS by supporting initiatives that bring about realistic solutions, moving beyond incremental progress towards transformational adaptation as well as enhancing the well-being of SIDS communities.

The "From Ambition to Practice: Advancing SIDS4 goals through the Climate Smart Resilient Island (CSRI) Initiative" event was organized by the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.