Minister of Environment Dr. Hussain Rasheed Hassan has called on the international community to deliver on the commitments already made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Minister Hassan said this on Thursday in New York at the High-Level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All, convened by the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

Speaking at the United Nations Headquarters, Minister Hassan shared the experience of the Maldives in implementing climate resilience projects and highlighted the challenges in access to finance. He detailed that it takes two to three years to access the finances, and how the initial problem worsens by the time Maldives receives the finances.

At the High-Level Event on Interlinkages between Water and Climate Action, Minister Hassan spoke about the challenges the Maldives face in access to water and said that the quality of Maldives’ limited freshwater is deteriorating and that salinization of the fresh water lens due to climate change is a major concern, adding that the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami left most of the islands with contaminated ground water.

He also said that this year, the new government is building water networks in 82 islands, which will provide access to safe drinking water to over 65,000 people, and that climate change is a high priority of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.