Maldives leader in plea for solution as islands face disaster
The Maldives has issued a plea to Glasgow to help save it from likely destruction from climate change.
The islands in the Indian Ocean face being swamped by water if sea levels continue to rise.
And now representatives have told the Sunday Mail how it’s vital that Cop26 provides a solution to climate change.
Mohammed Nasheed, who became the Maldives’ first democratically elected leader in 2008, said he was optimistic about the talks.
The politician, who held a meeting of his government’s cabinet under water to highlight climate change chaos in 2009, said the problem wasn’t limited to his homeland.
Nasheed, who is now the speaker in the Maldives parliament, said: “We have known for many years that countries like the Maldives would have to pay the price for inaction on climate change. Our people see it every day.
“But this is not limited to faraway countries. It is happening everywhere, be it flooding in Germany or forest fires in Australia.
“Scotland too will have problems unless something is done to stop rising temperatures. The time has come for action.”
Earlier this year Danish scientists said sea levels could rise by up to 1.1metres by the end of the century in a worst-case
scenario. The predictions would cause mayhem in the Maldives, a collection of over 1000 islands.
More than 80 per cent of the country is just one metre above sea level. And the consequences are already being felt. It’s been reported that 90 per cent of the islands have had flooding and almost all complain of shoreline erosion.
Nasheed, 54, has long campaigned for action. He quit his country’s top job in 2012 amid claims of an armed military coup.
The leader of the Maldivian Political Party (MDC) fled to the UK – where he had previously lived in exile – for political asylum. His case was championed by leading human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
He returned to the Maldives in 2018 when his friend and fellow MDC politician Ibrahim Solih became president. But he says the political instability of his homeland is nothing compared to the climate change challenges.
Nasheed added: “We are already living in a changed world because temperatures have risen by 1.2C.
“The reef that surrounds the Maldives is almost dead. When it dies, so does our fish. Bigger and stronger waves cause coastal erosion. Our freshwater supplies are contaminated by seawater incursion.
“The Maldives’ contribution to global warming is 0.0001 per cent but we are paying the price. If we go above 1.5C, it will be a huge challenge.”