The president of the Maldives called this Saturday for international financing to combat the rise in sea levels that threatens the Indian Ocean archipelago, arguing that he was unfairly excluded from support measures for less developed countries.
“The Maldives is responsible for only 0.003% of global emissions, but it is one of the first countries to suffer the existential consequences of the climate crisis. “Wealthier nations have a moral responsibility towards communities like ours,” President Mohamed Muizzu wrote in the British newspaper The Guardian.
The president of the Maldives was speaking on the eve of the opening, on Monday, in Saint John’s, capital of Antigua and Barbuda, of an international conference of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), an event organized by the UN every ten years.
Most of these island states are luxury tourist destinations. They are threatened by rising sea levels and increased storms and cyclones due to climate change.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the GDP per capita of the Maldives is higher than that of Chile, Mexico, Malaysia or China, but the statistical methods used make SIDS appear “richer than they really are”, according to Muizzu.
“Thanks to the good health of the Maldives tourism sector, we are classified as an emerging economy and, therefore, we are excluded from the cheaper financing reserved for lower-income countries,” lamented the leader.
His country needs around 500 million dollars (about 462 million euros) to mitigate the effects of climate change and the local economy, which depends on tourism, is not in a position to obtain these funds on its own.
In 1987, the then president of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, caused a stir at the UN when he warned that his country, with 1,192 small coral islands, was at risk of disappearing if sea levels rose one meter.
Therefore, he built an artificial island two meters above sea level and twice the size of Malé, the small, overcrowded and vulnerable capital island of two square kilometers.
Mohamed Muizzu, elected in September, wants to build a larger artificial island, which will serve as a breakwater and house 30,000 apartments.
But his project is not eligible to receive funding to combat climate change because it is classified as an infrastructure project, he complained.
Mohamed Muizzu is considered pro-Beijing and, according to Maldivian government officials, much of the construction work is expected to be carried out by Chinese companies.
Source: Observadora
