Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam has stated that immediate action needs to be taken against climate change, similar to the actions taken against the COVID-19 pandemic. He made the remarks while speaking at the 7th Our Ocean Palau conference as the representative of the Maldives.
At the conference, Minister Aslam said that small island states such as the Maldives are on the front lines and have the highest moral ground to speak about climate change, warning that small island states may be the first ones to be affected, but that they will not be the last. The minister said that the actions currently being taken to stop climate change are too slow because most people are not true believers in the crisis. He noted that countries took immediate action when they felt threatened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and locked down their borders, shut down their economies, kept people at home, and developed vaccines within months. He stressed that people need to believe that the environmental issues affecting their countries, the pollution, and the unsustainable way of life are a crisis.
Furthermore, Minister Aslam highlighted the importance of energy, especially during the war in Ukraine. He said the current uncertainty about energy production is the time to adopt renewables, as the technology exists but people are simply reluctant. He also said Maldivians are not willing to leave the country and will stay and adapt. He noted that small island states have limited resources and requested other countries to help them with adapting technology and gaining the necessary knowledge to find nature-based solutions and invest in renewables.
Additionally, Minister Aslam said the Maldives has embarked on a journey to stop the usage of single-use plastics by the end of next year and is on a trajectory to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. He expressed hope that member states will help the Maldives achieve this goal so Maldivians can stay in their native country for generations.