Maldives has no intention of dying, we will do all we can: Nasheed

The Maldives ‘has no intention of dying’ and is prepared to do everything it can to combat the impact of climate change, former president Mohamed Nasheed has said.

Nasheed, who is representing Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in UNFCCC’s COP24 summit, said this while addressing a Climate Vulnerable Forum event in Katowice, Poland.

Highlighting that climate change is both a security risk and an existential threat to the scattered island nation, Nasheed said that its population ‘will not become the first victims of the climate crisis’.

”We are not prepared to die. And the Maldives has no intention of dying. We are not going to become the first victims of the climate crisis. Instead, we are going to do everything in our power to keep our heads above water”, Nasheed said in his address.

Nasheed urged major industrial nations to acknowledge the danger of climate change, not just to the Maldives but to all low-lying regions across the world.

Maldives’ most well-known climate champion’s words ring true, studies have shown that 650 million people live on land that will be submerged or exposed to chronic flooding as a direct result of the current climate trend.

”It’s just madness for us to allow global CO2 levels to go beyond 450ppm…we appeal to you to set aside political differences, and come together with an open hand and an honest heart. We must work together to salvage what we can, If we come together on the basis of the emergency facing us, we can do it”, Nasheed continued.

Maldivian Tourism Minister Hussain Rasheed Hassan also spoke at a high-level session of the summit on Tuesday, sharing a podium with ministerial representatives of 24 other countries.

In his speech, Minister Hussain highlighted IPCC findings that if emissions continue at the current rate, mitigation efforts will be of no use in about a decade, though restricting it to the ‘1.5 degree Celsius’ limit is yet possible.

Minister Hussain called on the summit to adopt a ‘formal decision’ to implement the ‘outcomes’ of the Talanoa Dialogue, which was mandated by the UNFCCC and launched at the 2017 COP23 summit.