Dr. Yoan Vilain, Vice-Provost for International and European Affairs,
Distinguished Professors, Scholars and Researchers,
Dear Students,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu A’laikum.
It is a great honour and a privilege to speak today at Humboldt University an institution founded on the belief that knowledge must serve society, that science must be guided by ethics, and that education must transcend borders.
There isn’t a more fitting place to discuss climate change without borders than here, at a university that has long championed the idea that humanity’s greatest challenges can only be addressed through shared knowledge, intellectual courage, and global cooperation.
As you know that the Maldives is a nation of islands scattered across the Indian Ocean, a country defined by its intimacy with nature, and a society whose fate is deeply intertwined with the rhythm of the sea.
For us, climate change is not a distant abstraction.
It is not a scenario discussed only in lecture halls or policy papers.
It is a daily reality, causing irreversible damage.
Climate change does not recognize borders.
As we all know, climate change impacts transcend national boundaries.
It does not distinguish between North and South, rich or poor, powerful or vulnerable.
And it does not await political consensus.
Yet our global response remains fragmented, divided by borders, interests, and timelines that climate science simply does not respect.
The Maldives contributes approximately 0.003% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a negligible share by any measure. And yet, we stand among the countries most exposed to and already suffering from the impacts of climate change. This reality demands a fair and collective global response, where responsibility and support are aligned.
This reality confronts us with a fundamental question:
How do we define responsibility and fairness in a world where the causes and consequences of climate change are so unevenly distributed?
The Maldives is a nation of more than 1200 coral islands, with an average elevation of just 1.5 meters above sea level. We are one of the lowest-lying countries on Earth. The ocean has always been our provider, our highway, our shield, our source of life.
But today, that same ocean poses our greatest risk.
For decades, the Maldives has been forced to think not in terms of mitigation alone, but adaptation as survival.
Adaptation for us is not a policy choice.
It is not an option.
It is a matter of continuity, of nationhood, culture, and identity.
We are investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and coastal protection. We are investing in land reclamation and elevation projects, disaster preparedness and early-warning systems, and community-based adaptation and ecosystem protection.
But perhaps our most important adaptation lesson is this:
Climate resilience is not only about engineering solutions, it is about governance, economic resilience, social cohesion, and long-term vision.
Too often, adaptation is treated as a technical problem. Build a seawall. Raise an island. Restore a reef.
These measures are necessary, but they are not sufficient.
Our experience shows that adaptation is fundamentally a governance challenge:
• How do you plan for risks that will unfold over decades, when political cycles last few years?
• How do you make decisions today that will affect generations yet unborn?
• How do you mobilise and deploy finance and technology at scale, while balancing immediate development needs with long-term resilience?
In the Maldives, adaptation has required us to rethink how we govern:
• Integrating climate risk into national planning, budgeting and development decision guided by climate science
• Coordinate and mobilise finance to deliver adaptation at scale
• Strengthening local government capacity, while ensuring that adaptation is inclusive and community-driven.
Adaptation succeeds only when people trust institutions, and when institutions plan beyond the next election.
That is why the Maldives has placed climate resilience at the heart of our national development strategy. A flagship example of this commitment is Hulhumalé—an elevated, carefully planned island city. Building on this experience, we will establish Ras-Malé, the largest island ever developed in the Maldives. Designed above projected sea-level rise, Ras-Malé reflects our resolve to build safely and sustainably, integrating climate-resilient housing, schools, hospitals, energy systems, and coastal protection into a single, coherent and holistic model for the future.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Climate change is not only an environmental crisis.
It is a crisis of inequality.
Those who contributed the least are paying the highest price. Those with the fewest resources face the greatest risks. And those most vulnerable have the weakest voice in global decision-making.
This imbalance is not accidental. It is the result of historical choices, economic structures, and development pathways that externalized environmental costs.
Adaptation financing, therefore, is not charity.
It is not aid.
It is climate justice and it is an obligation.
For countries like the Maldives, access to predictable, adequate, and concessional climate finance is essential, not only to adapt, but to develop sustainably without repeating the mistakes of the past.
Despite our vulnerability, our experience offers lessons that extend far beyond small island states:
First, early action matters.
Delaying adaptation only multiplies future costs, financial, social, human and environmental.
Second, resilience must be people-centred.
Communities are not passive beneficiaries; they are active agents of adaptation.
Third, nature is not the enemy.
Healthy reefs, mangroves, and ecosystems are among the most effective and affordable climate defences we have.
Fourth, adaptation and development must go hand in hand.
A resilient future cannot be built with climate considerations as an afterthought. Sustainable development must be synonymous with climate action.
And finally, solidarity works.
International partnerships, grounded in trust, science, and mutual respect, have enabled us to innovate, experiment, and adapt.
Institutions like Humboldt University play a decisive role in shaping our collective response to climate change.
You generate the knowledge that informs policy.
You train the scientists, engineers, economists, and leaders of tomorrow.
And you serve as guardians of truth in an age of misinformation and short-termism.
We need universities to break down silos between disciplines. We need universities to bridge science and policymaking, amplify voices from vulnerable regions, and place ethics at the heart of innovation.
For the Maldives, partnerships with academic institutions are vital, not only for research, but for capacity-building and shared learning.
Climate change without borders requires knowledge without borders.
Some may ask: why should the world listen to a small island nation?
My answer is simple:
Because vulnerability clarifies what power often obscures.
From the frontlines of climate change, we see the consequences of inaction with painful clarity. And that clarity carries a responsibility, to speak, to warn, and to propose a different path.
The future of the Maldives is a test case for the international system a test of multilateralism, a test of global solidarity, and a test of whether international law and cooperation can protect the most vulnerable
If we fail this test, the consequences will not stop with us.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me conclude with a shared vision.
Climate change without borders demands solutions without borders.
It demands that we move beyond narrow national interest and short-term gain.
It demands that we listen, to science, to experience, and to those living on the frontlines.
And it demands courage, the courage to act before catastrophe forces our hand.
From the Maldives to Germany, from islands to continents, our futures are intertwined by the same atmosphere, the same oceans, and the same moral choices.
So let us ensure that when future generations look back, they will say:
This was the moment when the world chose cooperation over division, responsibility over denial, and resilience over resignation.
Thank you.