President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Sunday called for concerted efforts at the national level to conserve nature and protect our environment. He made the call in a statement published on World Environment Day, which is marked across the globe today.
The Maldives’ low-lying archipelago faces the threat of increased weather events brought on by climate change. The President stressed that bold and urgent climate action was needed to ensure humanity’s survival and urged increased national-level efforts to protect our coral reefs, beaches, oceans, and vegetation while promoting sustainable development.
Climate advocacy is one of the strongest topics currently being debated across the globe, with the Maldives being one of the key voices for climate action. While no nation is immune to climate change, the President emphasised that taking immediate action to protect our planet is the responsibility of every human being.
The President also spoke about global warming in his statement. Warning that global temperatures are rising at an alarming rate, President Solih stressed that adapting to such unprecedented levels of global warming would be "near impossible." Speaking about technological advances, including clean energy technologies, the President said that concerted action was needed on the international and national level, irrespective of the size of the country.
Highlighting the youth, President Solih stated that their role in climate advocacy was essential to promote environmentally-friendly and sustainable lifestyles. The President said we must phase out single-use plastics and adopt cleaner energy sources to achieve the Maldives’ target of net-zero emissions by 2030. The President also spoke about the importance of segregating waste at the source and ensuring more areas of our natural environment are protected.