President Muizzu Calls for Financial Assistance to Build Climate-Resilient Maldives at COP31

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has said the Maldives is determined to build a resilient future in the face of climate change and that financial assistance is needed to achieve this, speaking at the COP31 summit underway in Antalya, Turkey. The President said countries must take urgent steps on three main matters in climate affairs. The first, he noted, is the provision of financial assistance. "Developed countries must fulfil their financial commitments. Financial assistance must be towards new, additional and concessional assistance. The Green Climate Fund must be recapitalised and substantial funds must be given to the adaptation fund, and adequate resources must be given to the loss and damage fund," the President said. He further said that although the Maldives' contribution to and share in creating the problem of climate change is very small, it is not acceptable that such countries must bear huge debts of a magnitude they cannot carry, in being aware of that situation. As the second matter requiring urgent steps at the international level, he noted the reform of climate assistance systems. He said that the way international financial institutions view and the principles by which they rate investments made in climate must be changed. The President said work on resilience must be seen as an investment in everyone's future, in exchange for a financial burden. He further said the third matter is the practical implementation of policies determined for climate. He said that in establishing food security and energy and water resources, the Maldives is converting determined targets into practical work. The President also revealed that last month a Maldivian institution received Green Climate Fund accreditation, the first time this achievement has been obtained by a small island developing nation in Asia. "We are calling for justice, for accountability and for steps to be taken," the President said, noting that unfulfilled hopes are merely promises. While the government has targeted converting 33 percent of the electricity used in the Maldives to renewable energy, it has revealed that renewable energy of 53 megawatts previously being generated in the Maldives has now been increased to 126 megawatts, more than double the amount generated up to the year 2023.