The Maldives: Living Precariously at Sea

Ambassador Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed of the Maldives represents a low-lying nation of 1,200 islands near Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean It is at the forefront of climate change, with its survival threatened by rising sea levels. The newly appointed ambassador discussed his nation’s problems with Mirva Lempiainen.

Q. The government of the Maldives recently held an underwater cabinet meeting. Why did President Mohamed Nasheed do this?

A. Some people might see it just for the publicity value, but I think it was a very important message that we were trying to convey. I think we were quite effective in letting the world know that this is a serious issue not only for the Maldives but for the whole world.

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Q. Is the world taking climate change seriously?

A. The Maldives has brought attention to climate change for a long time; for 20 years we’ve been talking about it. Yes, the world does take this seriously, much more seriously than it used to. The problem is what do we have to do in order to reverse climate change. The Kyoto Protocol was a major achievement, but it concentrated on things that countries should not do: don’t build factories. It was a matter of don’t. At the UN climate change summit in September, our president was trying to address this issue from a different perspective. Rather than looking at things the countries should not do, we should concentrate on telling them things they should do to cut down emissions, which is use more energy-efficient fuel, solar power and wind power. Be more carbon neutral.

Q. Is that why the Maldives is going carbon neutral?

A. The Maldives has announced that it would like to become carbon neutral in the next 10 years, which is very ambitious and very costly. But this is not an impossible dream. If the Maldives can achieve this, why can’t you? Although the initial investment can be quite high, we are confident that in 10 to 15 years it will pay for itself. What we do will have a minimal impact on the larger world environment, but it doesn’t mean that we should not do our own part. It’s both a symbolic gesture but also an economically feasible alternative for the future.

Q. How is climate change evident in the Maldives now?

A. There is a lot more soil erosion. We never used to get typhoons and hurricanes, but the stormy weather, rough seas, are much more frequent and much more intense than before.

Q. Was President Nasheed’s statement on buying land from another country to relocate his people serious?

A. I think he is once again trying to raise the awareness. We do have the very real risk of losing our land, and the population of this country becoming what you might call environmental refugees. But we have not been looking for other islands or other land. We are very much determined to stay where we are. This is land we have lived on for over 800 years, and the problems that we face haven’t been caused by any activity that we have taken on. The activities have been undertaken by countries much larger, much more powerful than us, and it is up to them to find ways to deal with the effects of climate change globally and also help us to adapt to the environment.

Q. Do you think the Maldives can be saved?

A. I’m sure we will continue to live in these islands for the next 800 years, as long as the world exists. We do not think that the international community will be so careless as to let a country disappear. There is a relationship of climate change and human rights as well. The world needs to come together to address these issues, and we will be able to survive.

Q. How has the Maldives prepared for climate change?

In the capital island, Malé, we have built seawalls with Japanese assistance, which actually protected the island when the tsunami occurred in 2004. The whole country was literally underwater for about three to four minutes, but the impact on Male was fairly limited because we had the wall. But this was very expensive, and the problem is you cannot have the same kind of defense systems created for 196 islands that people are living on. It’s just not economically feasible, it’s not even economically sensible to spend that kind of money, because many of the islands are very small. What we are hoping to do is that over longer periods we can encourage our populations to move to larger islands and have fewer inhabited islands. It’ll be easier to not only protect these islands but also provide better development opportunities. It would be more cost-effective. But it’s not something you can force upon people; it has to be a voluntary relocation.

Q. Hasn’t the Maldives also built higher man-made islands?

A. Yes, we have two islands. Hulhumalé is just next door to the airport island, built in a shallow lagoon. Through reclamation we have built this island, about five square kilometers. There are about 5,000 people living on it. The idea is once it’s completed, it could cater to 50,000 to 60,000 people. The other island is much more interesting, as it has been developed through waste disposal. They took all the waste that was generated in Malé, and over the years they artificially created this island called Thilafushi. People don’t live there but a number of industrial activities take place on that island. So it’s quite a large island. But when you say it’s high, it’s now only five feet above sea level. Maybe we can make it 10 feet.

Q. What are your hopes for the Copenhagen conference in December?

A. We are hoping that the countries will agree to no more than a 1.5 degree increase in temperature and 350 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere. That’s what we can live with. Unless the more developed countries change their pattern of development, then we will be the victims of them enjoying their way of life. Just as they would like to enjoy quality lives, we would also like to live. You can’t have a solution that caters to only the better-off parts of the world population. We have to find a solution that is acceptable to all of the world’s population.