Hon Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh

His Excellency Jose Maria Figueres, Former President of Costa Rica,

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former President of Norway

Other distinguished panelists and personalities, ladies and gentlemen,

I wish to begin by extending my appreciation to Her Excellency Sheikh Hasina, the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh for hosting this event and inviting me to participate in this important discussion.

I applaud the leadership of the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh for advancing the goals of this important Forum to a greater level during the chairmanship of Bangladesh.

Let me also express our pleasure, and thank His Excellency Jose Maria Figueres, the former President of Costa Rica for attending this important event. We further appreciate the initiative taken by Costa Rica to lead the Forum as its next Chair.

I wish to express our gratitude to DARA for their valuable collaboration with the CVF.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Climate Vulnerability Forum is a platform very close at heart for me, since its inaugural inception in the Maldives in 2009.

If there is a ground zero for observing and monitoring the impacts of a changing global climate, that would be the Maldives.

There is no country on this planet that is safe from climate change; each country faces threats, whether they are related to their ecosystems, prosperity or livelihood. To assume that countries are safer, because of their geography or terrain, or because of their economic might is a misnomer when it comes to the issues of climate change.

What we go through today is the image of your future. As it was well put in the CVF’s first Declaration adopted in 2009, the fate of the most vulnerable will be the fate of the world. It is only a matter of time before every country ends up having to step in our shoes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me give you an image of the present situation in the Maldives:

First there is the danger of habitat loss. Land loss and beach erosion are accounted as major impacts the country faces. Over 80% of the land area in the Maldives is less than 1 meter above the mean sea level. As of today, about 50% of all islands in the Maldives are experiencing severe coastal erosion. Maldives has about 1100 islands. The need to divert resources from productive investments to efforts to protect valuable coastal property from erosion significantly holds back the Maldives economy, which brings me right to the next severe stress we are facing: the danger of economic stress.

The coral reefs and seas are our life line. Our largest economic sectors, tourism and fisheries, which contribute more than 80% to our GDP, entirely depend on coral reefs and seas. Corals are highly sensitive to changes in ocean temperature. The tourism sector, which represents at least one third of the total economy, is strongly dependent on holiday-makers, most of whom engage in diving and snorkeling. Any deterioration in the natural eco-systems in the Maldives would therefore naturally have damaging economic consequences.

In the fisheries sector, catches from a certain type of tuna, which represents Maldivians’ main daily source of protein, significantly decreased since 2005. If the observed global temperature continues, the total disappearance of the Maldives’s coral reefs is almost inevitable. This threat to the survival of the coral reefs is seens as a threat to our largest economic sectors.

Growing water stresses are a major problem for the Maldives. Salt water intrusion into groundwater damage crops and cause damage to properties. About 24-32% of the households from selected wells show salinity. The groundwater contamination together with extended droughts represents a severe danger to the agricultural sector in the Maldives.

In addition to that, there has been a shortage of rainwater. About 49-63% of the households experience shortages of rainwater. Alone in 2012, the government of the Maldives had to supply desalinated water to about 87 islands. 50% of the households rely on desalinated water.

Extreme weather events, which will become roughly twice as common in the first half of this century, do have significant negative impact on the transport sector, which will endanger the Maldives’ food security.

Moreover, health risks due to climate change are rising: data shows that there is a continuing increase of diarrheal and vector-borne diseases during the rainy season in the Maldives which become more extreme every year as well.

These challenges are just examples of the possible impact of climate change. It is therefore of the utmost importance that we work together starting today toward helping the environmentally vulnerable countries adapt to climate change and mitigate its consequences successfully, so that tomorrow, the entire planet can be ready to take the appropriate measures and rely on a proven and successful structure.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution. It is an issue we must address with one voice, as we are all on the same sinking boat.

We need scaled-up national, international and regional efforts, especially to increase the financial resources in addressing climate change adapation to help the most vulnerable countries, as they generally are the States with the least resources to address such a large issue. In addition to financial resources, we need capacity-building and technology.

Even during these turbulent economic times, we cannot afford to delay the necessary environmental actions; climate change will not wait for our economies to recover. We call for all States to follow the steps taken by my government toward more sustainable development and a green economy, as we strive to become a low-carbon economy in the coming years ahead.

The Climate Vulnerability Monitor since its inaugural launch by former President Nasheed of the Maldives in 2010, the founding chair of the CVF, has been an indispensable tool in bringing together a comprehensive compilation of information and research from around the world.

It has shaped policy-makers approach to assess the seriousness of situations in our island nations, and it has brought together communities in their shared fears and common concerns. Finally, it has brought into context the almost perplexing array of different vulnerabilities, faced by different communities in different parts of the world.

We hope these are lessons and experiences we can all learn from and that it would encourage countries, civil society, international organizations and academia to take a holistic approach to deal with the real dangers faced by the most vulnerable countries.

As we move on with the important task of carrying out the work of CVF, I wish to recognize the collaboration of DARA, without which our efforts would not lead us to where we are today. I also wish to thank our important international partners for their generous assistance and contributions in ensuring that our collective efforts in promoting the vulnerability of these countries, do not sink.

Thank you.

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, ladies and gentleman

It gives me immense pleasure to speak here today at this high level event on Sustainable Energy for All.  On behalf of the government of Maldives, I highly commend this initiative of His Excellency Mr. Secretary General, calling on governments, businesses and civil society to make commitments to help achieve sustainable energy for all by the year 2030. We in the Maldives look forward to being a key player in this effort.

Excellencies,

Small island developing states are the least contributors to global climate change and yet the most vulnerable. With barely a meter above sea level Maldives, contributes only 0.003% to Global Green House gas emissions, and yet is bitterly victimized and on the frontline of climate change impacts. Therefore, the need to address the issue is far greater for us than anyone else here. We are determined to do what we can to address climate change mitigation. At international level, we have taken bold steps, agreed on many targets and devised various plans to transform our energy sectors despite lack of enough resources and capacity to translate these plans into action at national level and take it to the next level. I admit we are very ambitious, and we also realize we cannot do it alone. Therefore, I call upon international support, and with that in place, I am confident, we will be able to achieve our ambitions. One of our targets is of course to reduce our dependency on fossil fuel and increase our energy security. This is a cause very near and dear to our hearts.

Energy security is an issue of great concern to the government of Maldives. We in the Maldives achieved the goal of universal access to modern electricity in the year 2008. Nevertheless, this was achieved at a very high cost. Geographical limitations as a small Island state pose special challenges, demanding individualized and customized facilities to generate energy to meet their demands. At present, our predominant dependence on fossil fuel requires us to rely heavily on an unpredictable global market for our energy sources, putting our energy security at risk.  Last year alone, we spent 410 million Rufiyaa on electricity subsidies and this year alone, we have already spent 385 million Rufiyaa. This means 20% of our national GDP is spent on importing fossil fuels to the country. It is therefore, very clear to me that any effort however small, made to relieve our dependence on fossil fuels and adopt renewable, sustainable energy measures is extremely important. At present, only 0.1 per cent of our national energy demand is supplied through renewables irrespective of plentiful sunshine throughout the year as well as other possible avenues to enhance renewable energy. In my opinion, our priorities for the future are very clear:  We want to secure our energy supplies, reduce our dependency on imported energy sources and maximize the use of indigenous renewable energy sources.

We in the Maldives realize that if we invest in the right technology, not only would it save us costs, but it will also increase our energy security. To this end, I am proud to announce here today that as one of six pilot countries chosen by Strategic Climate Fund, we have just prepared and endorsed at the national level, a 5 year investment plan to scale up renewable energy in the Maldives. This investment plan will focus on creating an enabling environment to support private sector investment through guarantee facilities, from Multilateral institutions, feed- in tariffs and other investor-friendly policies and is expected to massively transform the energy sector of my country. Success of this plan also would reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and support global efforts to combat climate change. It will also enhance the government’s plan to make the Maldives carbon neutral by the year 2020. I am grateful to the donors and multilateral developments banks who are supporting us in this initiative.

Excellencies,

Under the plan, 21 megawatts of electricity would be generated from solar and wind, Six megawatts from waste and 551 tonnes of desalinated water daily as a byproduct. When the plan is successfully implemented, twenty islands in the Maldives would have transformed their electricity sectors entirely to renewable energy. These investments would also save seven million dollars each year from government fuel subsidies and would save us 22 million dollars a year in diesel imports. This will also reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 66,000 tonnes a year. Our country is determined to take the lead and demonstrate by example, to the rest of the world that achieving carbon neutrality is possible, viable and applicable in the Maldives.  We are very sure that investing in renewable energy will become the biggest business opportunity in Maldives and it will be a great way forward to create sustainable environment for all. Indeed, those who invest in modern energy today will emerge as the winners of the twenty first century.

Before I conclude, once again I congratulate you Mr. Secretary General, on your Sustainable Energy for All Initiative and wish the programme every success.

I thank you for your attention.