President Yameen Congratulates French President for his contribution on successfully holding climate negotiations at Conference of the Parties (COP21)

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has sent a letter of appreciation as the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), to the President of French Republic, H.E. Francois Hollande, to congratulate Government of France for the impressive manner they led and steered the climate negotiations at COP 21, which led to the adoption of the Paris Agreement on 12th December 2015.

In his letter, President Yameen has said that the Maldives faces an existential threat from the dangers of climate change and that even a few centimetre rise in sea levels will have disastrous consequences for this country and other low-lying countries. As such, the letter states that Maldives and several other low-lying small island states feels that the Agreement, while not perfect, is the humankind’s best hope for securing a future for the planet.

In his letter, President Yameen applauded, strong French leadership in getting commitments of nearly two-hundred countries to reduce emissions to keep a global temperature rise this century below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels

In concluding the letter, President Yameen expressed his hopes for France’s continued leadership in implementing the Agreement, particularly, in reviewing the progress countries make in reaching the targets. The letter further states that the Maldives, as the Chair of the AOSIS, and in its national capacity is ready to work with France in this challenge.