The President of the Republic of Tajikistan, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
and a very good morning to all.
I extend heartfelt appreciation to the Government and the warm people of Tajikistan for your generous hospitality and gracious welcome.
It is truly an honour to be here – in a land rich in natural beauty and cultural heritage – to speak on an issue that knows no borders and recognizes no distances: the accelerating loss of glaciers.
Excellencies,
You may wonder, why is the Maldives, a small island nation in the heart of Indian Ocean, here to speak about glaciers?
We have no mountains.
We have no snow.
No ice.
And no glaciers.
But we are here because glaciers, though thousands of kilometres away, play a crucial role in shaping the tides that surround our island nation.
Their fate is tied to ours.
Nearly 80% of our almost 1200 islands lie less than a metre above sea-level.
What disappears from the glaciers eventually flows down to our coasts.
When glaciers melt, sea levels rise.
And when the seas rise, the future of our people falls into uncertainty.
Glaciers are not distant, lifeless giants.
They are the water towers of the world.
They sustain rivers, support agriculture, preserve ecosystems, and regulate global climate.
When they vanish, so do these lifelines.
When glaciers shrink, it loses stability, security, and the future of many communities.
It redefines the global coastlines.
It rings the warning bell of climate change.
And for Small Island Developing States like the Maldives, the loss of glaciers does not just mean warmer weather.
It means salt in our underground water reserves.
It means receding shorelines.
It means the loss of livelihoods, communities, and cultures.
The Maldives and other island nations face an urgent threat from forces beyond our making.
Excellencies,
The science is clear.
Glaciers are melting faster than ever in recorded history.
We are on track for far worse if current emissions trends continue.
We must limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Some glaciers may disappear entirely within this century.
That is not just a warning. It is a forecast backed by science and facts, not speculations.
And its consequences are not shared equally. Small Island Developing States, despite contributing the least to global emissions, will bear the greatest burden.
We have always been caretakers of nature, not its destroyers. Yet we carry a disproportionate share of the burden.
We do not have the luxury of waiting for others to act. Our timeline is not decades. It is now.
Every moment of delay deepens the crisis.
As a demonstration of our commitment and ambition, the Maldives submitted its third Nationally Determined Contribution in February this year.
It sets out a more ambitious pathway towards resilience and low-carbon development.
With the necessary international support, we aim to reduce our emissions by 1.52 million tons by 2035.
We have also raised our ambition on renewable energy. We aim to generate 33% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2028.
But we cannot do it alone.
We urge all countries to submit updated NDCs before COP30 this year, with enhanced ambition, transparency, and urgency.
These commitments must not be symbolic. They must be transformative.
Excellencies,
We need a global response as vast as the glaciers themselves.
We call for greater focus on the special circumstances of Small Island Developing States, including tailored strategies, concessional climate finance, technology adapted to our unique needs and meaningful capacity building.
We also call for enhanced cooperation and solidarity. Because what begins as melting ice, ends as rising tides.
Let us bridge the distance between the frozen frontiers and our fragile shores.
Let us act together.
I thank you.