President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih criticizes global powers on Monday for not following through on the pledges made in 2015 to provide USD 1 billion in aid for vulnerable and developing nations that will face the consequences of climate change.
While giving his address in the UN Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, he stated that the world will only be saved from the effects of climate change only if all nations worked together for this goal.
He said the countries that release the most amount of toxic gases into the atmosphere have to set tighter restrictions and work even harder to achieve a "Net Zero" carbon emissions. He also said smaller countries should receive aid from developed nations to combat climate change as well.
Referring to the Paris Agreement of 2015, he said it was not enough to simply agree on goals.
He expressed his frustrations over countries that signed the Paris Agreement, which had been hailed as one of the most important treaties signed to combat climate change. He said they were not even close yet to achieving the goals outlined in the agreement.
This was the first time a Maldivian President had attended the COP26 in 12 years, even though the nation has been advocating for itself since 1992 in the conference.
The President noted that the Maldivian people were terrified of climate change. He added that he visited six Maldivian islands last month, and all of them were facing severe erosion.
If the global temperature rises from 1.5 degrees Celsius to 2 degrees Celsius as projected, the President described the results would be similar to giving a "death sentence" to Maldivians.
The COP26 conference will go on until November 12.
A delegation of senior Maldivian government officials were in Glasgow right now to advocate for climate change and Maldives. The delegation includes Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed, Environment Minister Aminath Shauna and Special Envoy for Environment Sabra Nooradheen.
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