President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih urges the Maldivian people to adopt a more environmentally friendly lifestyle and to believe that air pollution is directly linked to their health.

In his message on Environment Day, the President urged the people to refrain from polluting the air.

In his message, President Solih said that this year’s theme, Air Pollution, is especially linked to the general health of human beings along with the environment. He said that, according to statistics from WHO, 4.2 million people die prematurely due to having to breath toxic air and that around 91% of the world’s population is deprived of access to enough clean air.

President Solih emphasized that even though there are no huge industrial factories in Maldives, toxic gas emission is comparatively high due to sea and land transportation in the Maldives. Due to this fact, the Maldives faces issues in regards to air pollution, he said, adding that since the capital of Maldives is highly congested, the people residing in Male’ has to breath toxic air polluted from land vehicles.

President Solih said the only way to minimize air pollution is to reduce the emission of toxic gases into the air, which could be achieved by increasing renewable energy mechanisms, reducing the creation of waste or recycling the waste created. He also emphasized the importance of planting trees and reducing any unnecessary destruction of trees since they are a natural source of clean air.

He said the government does not encourage the destruction of the environment in the name of development and that it has been taking action to ensure environmental protection by searching for ways to reduce air pollution by planting more trees in Male’ and developing more environmentally friendly transportation.

In his message, President Solih extended well wishes and greeting to all the Maldivian people on the occasion of World Environment Day and extended gratitude for the work done by associations and institutions to protect the Maldives environment.