President calls for concerted efforts on national level to protect environment

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has called for concerted efforts at the national level to conserve nature and protect the environment in Maldives. 

He made the appeal in a statement on Sunday, on occasion of World Environment Day. 

President Solih said in his statement that Maldives’ low-lying archipelago faced the threat of increased weather events brought on by climate change.  

He said that bold and urgent climate action was needed to ensure humanity’s survival and urged increased national-level efforts to protect the coral reefs, beaches, oceans, and vegetation while promoting sustainable development. 

President Solih noted that climate advocacy was one of the strongest topics currently being debated across the globe, with Maldives one of the key voices for climate action.  

He stressed that no country was immune to climate change, and that taking immediate action to protect the planet was the responsibility of every human being. 

President Solih also spoke about global warming. 

Warning that global temperatures were rising at an alarming rate, President Solih said that adapting to such unprecedented levels of global warming would be "near impossible."  

He also spoke about technological advances, including clean energy technologies, and said that concerted action was needed on the international and national level, irrespective of the size of the country. 

President Solih also urged more youth to get involved in climate action, stating that their role in climate advocacy was essential to promote environmentally-friendly and sustainable lifestyles.  

He spoke of the need to phase out single-use plastics and adopt cleaner energy sources to achieve the Maldives’ target of net-zero emissions by 2030.  

He also spoke about the importance of segregating waste at the source and ensuring more areas of Maldives’ natural environment are protected.