Maldives saves for new homeland amid flooding fears
The Maldives’ newly-elected President Mohamed Nasheed said in an
interview yesterday that his Government will begin saving to buy a new
homeland in case global warming causes the country to disappear into the
sea.
Beloved by tourists for their white sandy beaches, palm trees and
clear waters, the 1,192 coral islands that make up the Indian Ocean
country risk devastation by rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed, who won the Maldives’ first democratic
presidential election last month, told The Guardian his Government will
start putting aside part of its billion-dollar annual tourism income in
case the worst happens.
“We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have
to buy land elsewhere. It’s an insurance policy for the worst possible
outcome,” he told the newspaper. He added: “We do not want to leave the
Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents
for decades.”
Nasheed said he had already broached the subject with a number of
countries and found them to be “receptive”. India and Sri Lanka are
targets because they had similar cultures and climates, while vast
Australia was also an option.
He told the newspaper he intended to create a “sovereign wealth fund”
from the money generated by tourism, much like Arab states had with oil
revenues. “Kuwait might invest in companies — we will invest in land,”
he said.
Outgoing President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Asia’s longest-serving
leader, launched a book in April to highlight the threat to the Maldives
posed by global warming. He said at the time that they could only adapt
to the problem by relocating citizens to safer islands. The alternative,
building protective walls on the 193 inhabited islands, was too
expensive.
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